Simon Sang, the secretary general of Dock Workers Union, has expressed confidence that his fourth term in office will be smooth.
Sang, who was first elected into DWU in 2006, has already led the union for 15 years. He is set to serve another five-year term in office until 2026.
During the hotly contested June 24 DWU general election, Sang beat 12 other contestants to emerge the winner with 1,055 votes, with his closest challenger Renson Thoya managing 846 votes.
Mohammed Sheria, who was Sang’s chair for the past five years, lost to newcomer Mohamed Juma Mwasera, who got 543 votes.
Sheria and Sang had a turbulent relationship, each pulling in different directions. Sheria was seen as pro-government, whereas Sang was critical of the government.
In an interview with the Star for the first time since winning the election, Sang expressed optimism that the next five years will be smooth.
“The last five years were turbulent for me, but it was also a good learning process. No one can ever beat me in union elections because I’m now more strategic than I was before,” he said.
For the first time in the history of DWU, two women were elected to higher office. Nimo Ibrahim will be Sang’s deputy and Nana Mote the treasurer.
Gunda Kaneno, who was Sheria’s vice chair, is the only one from the opposition camp who got reelected.
Zulpha Musau and Edwin Oketch were elected as female and male young workers' representatives.
Sang said he has high hopes that he will work well with the new team. “They are all focused leaders, I believe we will work well together,” he said.
In 2006 when joining DWU for the first time, Sang had said he was not a politician, but a powerful negotiator.
“During my leadership, I have been branded an arrogant person, but the truth is, I am just consistent in what I push for,” he said.
He said in 2006, the basic salary for the lowest DWU members at Kenya Ports Authority was Sh11,000, but that has since gone up to Sh46,000.
At the same time, the highest paid DWU members were earning about Sh34,000, which has since gone up to about Sh106,000.
“That is a big percentage in salary increment. I can tell you that no union will be able to push and bargain for such an increment within 15 years,” he added.
He said with that track record, no one can now think of derailing his ambitions.
“DWU members are seeing what we have been doing for them. Anybody, who would want to derail our agenda, will now deal with the members. It will now be hard to shake us,” he said.
According to Sang, despite the opposition from Sheria, whom he claimed was serving the architects of port privatisation, he has been able to lead well.
“The privatisation issue has not been easy to contain. However, we have been able to stop it. The port must be protected against illegal privatisation,” Sang said.
He said recently KPA was able to cushion the government by giving out Sh22 billion.
“That would not have happened if the port was a private entity. All the profits in KPA reserves would have been shared out as dividends every year,” he said.
Sang said he is now planning to meet with all national union secretary generals to plan on how they will be dealing with the government.
“It is embarrassing to see nurses, doctors or teachers going into the streets to demonstrate with twigs, just to demand for their rights. We should have everything anchored in the law and all negotiations done in the boardrooms,” he said.
-Edited by SKanyara