MOMBASA - The Kenya Ports Authority said on Thursday striking workers at the Mombasa port should resume work by Friday morning or lose their jobs, and that normal activities at East Africa’s biggest port will resume July 6. The Mombasa port is the biggest in the region and handles imports such as fuel for Uganda, Burundi, Rwanda, South Sudan, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo and Somalia. Witnesses said a number of cargo ships were not being unloaded, while trucks were unable to enter or exit the port. The workers are protesting against higher deductions for the government’s national health insurance scheme, officials said. In a notice to the striking workers announcing the deadline, the ports authority (KPA) said that because there is no registered trade dispute between the Dock Workers Union and the Authority, the strike was unlawful. “Any employee who will not report or discharge his or her duties will be deemed to have forfeited their appointment,” the statement said. The KPA said management staff had been deployed to ensure essential services are delivered while full port operations will resume by July 6. Union officials could not immediately be reached for comment. The workers initially paralysed operations at the regional trade gateway on Sunday but later returned to work after union officials told them they had been invited to a meeting by government and port management to seek a solution. The strike then flared up again on Wednesday. Container traffic through the port grew by 11.9 percent in 2014, helped by its expanded capacity and new infrastructure built to shorten the turnaround time for ships.