Kenya’s main port sacks 27 strike leaders as losses hit $2 mln

By Joseph Akwiri MOMBASA (Reuters) – East Africa’s biggest port in the Kenyan city of Mombasa said on Saturday it had dismissed 27 workers it believed were behind a strike this week that paralysed operations for two days and cost the port at least $2 million. Over 2,000 workers went on strike on Wednesday and Thursday in protest against higher deductions for the government’s national health insurance scheme, prompting port management to threaten to fire them, having advertised their positions. The work stoppage has disrupted business at the biggest port in the region, which handles imports such as fuel for Uganda, Burundi, Rwanda, South Sudan, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo and Somalia.