Kenya Aviation Workers Threaten Strike Over Airports Authority Dispute

Kenya’s aviation workers have issued a seven-day strike notice demanding the resignation of the airports authority board over incompetence and the scrapped Adani leasing deal, threatening major disruption at Nairobi’s main airport.

The Kenya Aviation Workers Union (KAWU) has issued a seven-day strike notice demanding the resignation of the Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) board, citing incompetence and the fallout from the cancelled airport leasing deal with India’s Adani Group.

The industrial action threatens to disrupt operations at Nairobi’s Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, one of Africa’s busiest aviation hubs, though the union has not specified when the strike might commence once the notice expires.

The controversy stems from a proposed plan to lease the airport to Adani Group, a deal scrapped after the United States indicted the conglomerate and senior executives for allegedly paying around $265 million in bribes to Indian government officials. The Adani Group has denied the allegations, but the fallout has continued to reverberate in Kenya’s aviation sector.

In a letter dated 23 September, KAWU Secretary General Moses Ndiema accused the KAA board of incompetence and failing to act in Kenya’s best interests, citing the mishandling of the Adani deal as evidence of poor leadership. “The epitome of the board’s incompetence and lack of touch with reality is the recent events involving the Adani deal and other decisions,” Ndiema wrote.

Workers at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport staged a similar strike last year, protesting against the proposed leasing plan before it was abandoned. The union now argues that the board has lost the trust of aviation employees and must step aside.

KAA officials have yet to respond publicly to the union’s demands. If the strike proceeds, it could paralyse passenger travel and cargo movement through Nairobi, affecting not only Kenya but also regional trade and tourism.

The dispute highlights the fragile balance between foreign investment and national accountability in Kenya’s infrastructure sector. As the union pushes back, the looming strike serves as a stark reminder that labour unrest can bring even the busiest runways to a standstill.