Locals head to top as project builds their careers

China Road and Bridge Corp says it will move as many Kenyans as possible into managerial or senior-level positions during construction of the standard-gauge railway from Mombasa to Nairobi.

More than 10,000 Kenyans are working on the project with about 1,900 Chinese colleagues, says Atanas Maina, managing director of Kenya Railway Corporation. More than 1,300 Kenyans are working in management roles at or above foreman level. It is expected that 30,000 Kenyans will be hired before the project is completed, Maina says.

The $3.8 billion project is expected to be completed by late 2017.

Chinese officials have often said it is to their advantage to hire and promote as many locals as possible. Benefits include less expense than bringing Chinese workers from halfway around the globe, but they don't stop there.

Hiring and promoting well-qualified local managers can be a challenge, however, since some technologies and skills used in the project are new to the country. Kenya's current railway system was built more than 110 years ago by British colonial administrators.

Kenyans have been promoted into management roles. One is Isaac Musau in Section No 5's Stoney Athi Camp. He started as a human resources clerk and was promoted to human resources officer several months after he joined the company. About 560 Kenyans and more than 40 Chinese work in Musau's camp.

"So many people have been promoted after joining CRBC," Musau says. Twenty-four Kenyans have been promoted to foreman in the camp, he says. "They are senior-level. They report to managers."

One of the 24 is James Kibe, who ran a small shop before he joined CRBC more than six months ago. After about three months he was made head of a team of 36 workers.

"There are a lot changes," Kibe says. "Before I earned little money. I now earn more than 1,000 (Kenyan shillings, $10.25) a day," says the 28-year-old. That is more than twice the minimum wage for a worker like Kibe in this area, a wage report shows.

In preparation for laying track and under Kibe's leadership, his team built a 6 meter-high section of sloping earthworks that has passed inspection.

Donald Joseph Munana has worked for CRBC since 2007 and has been promoted to a more senior position in Section No 3 as a manager of a team of different types of workers. Munana's job includes assigning duties, making sure trucks and tools are ready and overseeing survey measurements of the roadbed and other structures.

"You have to plan for them tomorrow. Today we are doing this and tomorrow, what are we supposed to do? So you don't make any machine stop or any work stop. So you make it continue every day."

Kou Xiaojun, executive deputy general manager of the project's Section No 7, says the localization of management and employment can "reduce labor costs and improve management efficiency".

"Being in a much better position to deal with many local issues than foreigners, locals (in management) can work as a bridge, passing foreign information to locals and local customs and laws and so on to the company."

Kou says he expects more Kenyans, after company training, to be promoted to more senior positions. Building up a local management team is a challenge for a construction company that often has to move from one place to another, sometimes even from one country to another, Kou says. Many local workers who have worked with the company for a long time and have the potential to be promoted are sometimes very hesitant to go when the company moves to a new project site, Kou says.

Another challenge is that there are few talented local people who are skilled in single-gauge railway engineering technology, making it difficult to put locals into senior positions.

The company has had Kenyans working in senior positions as laboratory technicians, surveyors and human resources officers, Kou says. It is easier to find well-qualified and talented employees in the country for these jobs. "In our HR department (in Section No 7), we had two Chinese but about five Kenyans."

Lily Bridget Chepkemoi works in Section No 5's laboratory, where there are five Kenyans and five Chinese. She says she thinks more Kenyans will become managers as time goes on.

"Now most things are so new. To be a leader, you have to understand almost everything. Getting a person who understands everything will take a very long time."

houliqiang@chinadaily.com.cn