Top KVDA staff in court over transfers

By Edwin Cheserek

Eldoret, Kenya: Six senior employees of the Kerio Valley Development Authority (KVDA) have moved to court to challenge a decision by the parastatal to demote and transfer them.

The workers have sued KVDA and Managing Director David Kimosop for unlawfully, unprocedurally and without affording them an opportunity to be heard, transferring them to various field stations in April, thereby breaching their rights.

Through Mwinamo and Lugonzo Advocates, the staff alleged that the company had unlawfully and without justification stopped their salaries and medical allowances with immediate effect despite their reporting to the new stations.

They further argued that the decision to transfer them was arbitrary and contrary to terms and conditions of the company’s employment Act.

The employees alleged that after the transfers were effected, Kimosop constituted various ad hoc committees to discipline them on account of desertion of duties, yet he had no mandate to carry out such a task.

“Apart from transferring the employees to various field stations across the region, the managing director has also demoted them without proper explanation or lawful reason,’’ they argued.

Labour practices

Through their lawyers, they asked the court to issue orders restraining their employer from transferring them, saying their constitutional right to fair labour practices and reasonable working conditions had been infringed upon.

The court directed the authority to respond to the suit within two weeks.

In the same court, shareholders of EMO Investment Ltd have sued the directors for planning to mortgage the company’s 570 acres of land in Sergoit, Uasin Gishu County, to unknown parties.

The shareholders sought orders restraining the directors from disposing of the property and convening the annual general meeting, pending hearing and determination of the case.