The management and operations at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) are set to undergo a radical overhaul that includes reforming the Kenya Airports Police Unit, the immigrations department and taking all the staff at Kenya’s premier airport through mandatory fresh training on customer care.
Yesterday, four Cabinet secretaries including James Macharia (Transport and Infrastructure), Fred Matiang’i, (Interior and Coordination of National Government), Najib Balala, (Tourism) and Cleopa Maillu, (Health) signed an Airport Charter that has been crafted to coordinate operations and improve customer service at the region’s aviation hub.
Speaking during the event, Macharia said that the charter provides a framework of coordinating operations of all government departments under the command of Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) who were given three months to implement radical changes. “There is no room for failure because we want the airport to provide world-class service, especially now when we are about to launch direct flights to the US.
In the unlikely event there is failure, there will be serious repercussion, including outsourcing some of the services to the third party,” Macharia warned KAA. Fred Matiang’i said that the airport is an important resource to the country, as an entry point for foreigners, which is why the government has undertaken to ensure service delivery is taken a notch higher.
“We have had internal discussions with the National Police Service and Directorate of Immigration and agreed to some changes. For instance, we are going to ensure that the Kenya Airports Police Unit is changed and other changes are made in immigration,” Matiang’i said.
In the past, users and service providers have raised a number of concerns on the systems, personnel and operations at JKIA and other airports across the country.
Most of the concerns arise from failure of systems that sometimes lead to long queues and delays during peak hours at the JKIA’s security screening, immigration and customs clearance points.
Police manning various spots at the airports and immigration officers have also consistently been accused of arbitrarily harassing and extorting bribes from passengers and motorists.
KAA managing director Jonny Anderson contended that indeed they have received a number of complaints ranging from staff harassment and extortion to poor facilities but with the the service charter, all the issues will be conclusively addressed.
“We have received a lot of reports on harassment and other issues like water supply, power and security not manned properly. With the charter, all these issues are going to be addressed,” Anderson said.
