Noah Cheploen
16 April 2008
Nairobi — A young woman with a weary look is seated at the door of a dilapidated house, in one of the sisal estates in Rongai and Mogotio constituencies in the Rift Valley, her exhaustion typifying the misery faced by thousands of manual labourers in these plantations.
A sisal worker speaks to a journalist at one of the sisal estates in Rongai constituency. The workers have been subjected to poor living conditions. And despite complaints of huge arrears, they say there has been little change since the companies started paying them weekly. Photo/ SIMON SIELE
There are more than 30,000 sisal workers spread across the two constituencies. Though their living standards are deplorable, the majority know too well that working here is a nightmare, which they cannot let go because it assures them of at least a meal every day.
The workers and other stakeholders maintain that there has been a significant improvement on payments, thanks to an unprecedented campaign by human rights organisations, led by the Catholic Diocese of Nakuru.
The sisal estates are Alphega, Athenai, Lomolo, Banita and Majani Mingi, where hundreds of families have never known any other home. Some have seen their fathers and grandparents work, retire to misery and others die and are buried in the estates.
Ancestral homes
Most of them were born in the sisal estates and trace their roots to various parts of the country particularly Nyanza and Western provinces.
But they are unwilling to return to their ancestral homes despite the squalid conditions. They were also affected by the post-election violence, which saw about 2,000 people evicted from the estates.
According to one of them, the campaign by the civil societies freed them from exploitation, forcing the proprietors to adopt weekly payments. Delay and arrears have now become a thing of the past, although a long standing dispute over unpaid wages is yet to be resolved by the court in Nakuru.
Mr John Ojimbi, who works with the Catholic Justice and Peace Commission (CJPC) in Nakuru said long term issues, concerning the modalities of payments are about to be resolved, thanks to heightened awareness of personal rights. However, he added that child labour and early marriages remain major concerns.
Blind eye
Although he blamed the sisal companies for the deterioration of living standards in the estates, Mr Ojimbi said the Government and workers' unions were partly responsible for the state of affairs, because they had turned a blind eye to their suffering.
Thirty seven primary schoolgirls were impregnated in Makongeni Location, Rongai constituency in 2003 and 2004. The matter was raised in Parliament in 2004 with MPs seeking an explanation from the Government.
According to Mr Ojimbi, women make up to 80 per cent of the workforce in most sisal estates.
Mrs Beth Mugo, then an assistant minister for Education (now minister for Public Health) told Parliament that a panel had been constituted to investigate the pregnancy and dropout cases in the area, adding that it was the provincial administration that was implementing its recommendations to punish the culprits.
She said the suspects responsible for the pregnancies were mainly the sisal estate workers, among them dropouts from the affected schools.
Mr Ojimbi said that successive governments had overlooked the sector and consequently failed to address the plight of the sisal workers.
However, this could be attributed to the fact that the sector has been on a downward trend and plays little role in the national economic development. Sisal earned the country slightly over Sh700 million in foreign exchange in 2003.
The civil rights crusader said the Government had put more focus on other cash crops but little less attention the ailing sector.
"I think the Government has contributed a lot to the bad situation in the sisal estates. We have not heard anyone mention these issues. We only hear about maize, tea, coffee and sugarcane," he said.
The stakeholders, he said wanted sisal industry to be treated in the same way as the other sectors under the Ministry of Agriculture.
Promptly paid
He added that there were 80 church trained paralegals who enlighted workers on their rights in the estates.
"There is a big change in the estates. Workers are promptly paid and the management involves them in decision making. Human rights issues have been implemented," he said.
Sisal plant was introduced in the country from Tanzania where it was first grown in 1893. It grows well in the arid and semi arid lands (ASALS).
However, big chunks of the sector is controlled by private large-scale developers. Polished sisal fibres are exported to European and Asian markets.Most of the workers are on casual payroll.
They are hired during planting, weeding, and cutting and brushing of the tough fibre with a thorny end, and later during the industrial processing. Processed sisal is used in weaving, bags and upholstery.
There are many risks faced by the workers, especially those in the fields. The dangers range from snake bites and pricks by the plants' pointed ends.Handling the fibres without protective gear is also a source of pain.
What with the sap that makes one itchy when it comes into contact with the body. Schools and health facilities in the estate are strained because of the rapid population growth and poor drainage.
Waste disposal mechanisms make life in the estates even more pathetic.
For many of the workers, their day starts at 6am and ends at 5pm. They brave the scorching heat whole day.
According to Mr Wellington Masaba, who has worked in one of the plantations for the last 15 years, there is a significant change in the way workers' dues are managed. Delays and non-payment, he says, were now a thing of the past.
Have improved
Mr Masaba, who is in his late 50s, said that he works for eight straight hours to ensure that he meets his daily target of 100 bundles. If he is lucky enough, he is paid Sh1,000 per week.
"I have worked for 15 years and for the first time, payments have improved. At least we get some money at the end of the week," he said, adding that he lost Sh80,000 in arrears when the management was under performing.
Mr Eric Cheruiyot, the production manager at Lomolo plantation, accused local politicians, who he said were bent on derailing the company by inciting the workers to gain political mileage.
He said they almost succeeded because production fell to one tonne per day from 10 tonnes, but added that the company was back on track. According to him, the workers are now enjoying better conditions.
He said: "On the outside, things seem to be okay now, but there are still specific issues to be resolved. These companies have diverse problems, but the main setback is that people who agitated for their rights were forcibly ejected during the post-election violence and there is risk of the situation being reversed."
Some of the workers are camping at the Nakuru showground, home to about 13,000 internal refugees. Hooligans burnt a part of the factory at Alphega sisal estate. Mr Ojimbi said some workers were laid off as the management struggled to do the repairs.
Mr Cheruiyot says some critics of the companies were interested in grabbing their land, but added that the local communities were now conscious of their motives. Some estates have continually clashed with the local communities over grazing land.
The community, mainly consisting of the Tugens, believe that the estate management should allow them to graze there livestock on part of the large swathes of land.
However, Mr Cheruiyot said that Lomolo sisal estate had decided to relax some of its rules, which the local community felt were unfair to them.
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