KENYA: Guard fired for insisting minister joins queue for security check at airport

KENYA: Guard fired for insisting minister joins queue for security check at airportA meticulous security guard in Kenya, Daisy Cherogony has lost her job after insisting that a sitting minister be made to undergo compulsory security check at an airport in Nairobi.

According to reports, Cherogony insisted that Education Minister, Fred Matiang’i, queue and undergo security checks like other passengers in an incident on April 6, while the minister was trying to catch a local flight.

Cherogony however lost her job after her employer, Kenya’s Airport Authority, dismissed her on May 11 on grounds of “gross misconduct for mistreating and humiliating” the minister.

But she has now sued her employer, saying her dismissal was uncalled for, as she was only doing her job.

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In her court documents filed at the Employment and Labour Relations Court, Cherogony says she was accused of making a mistake that does not exist and was victimised and discriminated against by KAA.

Cherogony also noted that according to the airport security manual, government ministers do not qualify for any preferential treatment unless they have special passes.

She said the minister, accompanied by an airport police inspector and his security team, had tried to force their way instead of waiting in line like other passengers.

“Matiang’i did not want to follow the queue but wanted special treatment despite the fact that it was raining and people were complaining,” Cherogony said.

Cherogony wants the court to declare her termination unfair and to award her $23,000 for wrongful dismissal.

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