Kenyan workers say Chinese company won't let them go home 

Every morning, 28-year-old Paul turns over to look at the face of his male colleague.

He doesn’t need to jump out of his warm blankets and stretch from a long night’s sleep, because there is no bed. So he crawls about, spreads his bed sheet and tucks it into the wooden floor.

He then folds his duvet neatly and places it on top of the mattress as you would place a pillow, which he doesn’t have. On the edge of his mattress, his shoes await him. 

If he had been at his own house, they would be under the bed or on a rack at the door.

But he’s in a hostel, and he needs to shower quickly before his roommate and colleagues in the other two rooms wake up. The seven of them live in a three-bedroom unit in Hatheru apartments, Kilimani.

Before he hops into the shower, he picks out his clothes for the day, lays them down neatly on the bed, and when he is done, walks out. His workplace is across the street, and he will have all his meals there for the day before retiring into his room in the evening.

He has done this since March 2020, as his employer, China Road and Bridge Corporation, refused to let him and his colleagues go home. His bosses, Paul (not his real name) discloses, fear that they will catch Covid-19 and spread it to them. 

He was home last in March 2020 just after the government announced the first case of Coivid-19, but now he feels trapped. His situation is better, though, he says. He pities his colleagues who have wives and children.

“It all started in March 2020 when Covid-19 hit Kenya. We were told that the company will provide food and shelter for 21 days. Those who refused to stay were given leave until their contract expired, and they were not allowed back,” he says.

“We were called for a meeting by our human resources manager, who is Chinese, (and told about the arrangements). To be honest the 21 days have never expired. This March will be the second year without going home.”

Now, there are 19 of them with burdened hearts, working as clerks, cooks, cleaners, electricians and finance officers.

“We are paid well, get our salaries on time, but the only problem is the absence of freedom to go home and come back. Our families are not allowed to visit, and even if they did, they are not allowed inside.”

Paul is annoyed that when they ask at what point they will be released to go home, the only response they get is, “You will go home when there are almost zero cases of Covid-19”. He is angry that he has missed two Christmas celebrations with his family. He misses his parents and siblings, but more so his girlfriend.

“I video-call my girlfriend on WhatsApp every day, but she always asks when I will be released to go back home. I have even thought about quitting, but I don’t have anything to fall back on. I wonder how people with children and wives are affected.”

He misses going to church on Sundays, hiking and visiting friends, and wonders when he will ever eat his mother’s food. He is annoyed that the detention has led to the creation of cliques among them, that others have developed petty habits, and that once in a while you will hear someone mock another because of how much food they eat or that another is boastful.

“There are CCTV cameras around the workplace, and they are monitored every second so you cannot dare escape. In the apartment building, a Chinese man comes in between 8.30pm and 10pm and checks each room to see whether anyone has escaped,” he says. 

“A driver once sneaked out to go visit his family. Someone snitched on him, and he was fired. If I sneak out, I lose the job, and I truly need this job.”

On February 22, he and others were handed an eight-point employee conduct and work rules policy. It said employees living in apartments paid for by the company will need to receive consent from their bosses if they wish to leave the premises.

Failure to do so would lead to disciplinary action, and possibly summary dismissal.

“All employees working and/or residing within the employer’s premises including the allocated staff quarters shall only be allowed to give access to non-authorised persons only upon receiving consent from the employer or a person placed in such authority by the employer,” reads the policy.

An employee, says the policy, will also face disciplinary action or summary dismissal if they, without leave, absent themselves from the work site.

If an employee falls sick with Coivid-19, he will proceed on a 14-day sick leave and move out of the employer’s premises. He will be entitled to 75 per cent of his basic salary. All employees are also subjected to a mandatory monthly Covid-19 test organised by the employer or a person authorised by the company.

When the 14 days expire, the employee will be allowed to return to work only after producing a negative Covid-19 PCR test result and an antibody IGM blood test from a test centre approved by the employer.

The company did not respond to the Nation’s email seeking comment on why employees are not allowed to go home daily without restrictions.

But Paul says that a day after our email was sent, he and his colleagues were asked to sign commitment papers. They refused, and he explains that it was rumoured that a spy was then hired to find out who had revealed the company’s living arrangements for the employees.

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