Shock for 1,200 Nandi County workers sacked overnight

Nandi County Governor Cleophas Lagat

More than 1,200 employees were yesterday sacked in what they described as the aftermath of the April Jubilee Party primaries.

A memo signed by the county secretary, Francis Ominde, instructed the county human resource management officer, chief of staff, all chief officers, and the clerk of the county assembly to revoke a number of appointments in several departments.

Mr Ominde accused the County Public Service Board of conducting irregular appointments without consulting his office.

"Appointments made by the board for the county public service are hereby rendered ineffective for the reason that they are illegal and unprocedural," said  Ominde in a letter.

The affected employees include 800 early childhood development (ECD) teachers, 300 health workers who were recently employed on contract basis, county drivers, and the governor's protocol and communication officers.

Others are revenue officers and a host of workers on contract.

The workers have blamed their woes on supremacy battles between the Public Service Board and the office of the county secretary.

They said operations at the county have not been the same since Governor  was rife with cases of abuse of office.

"The administration seems to be losing control despite the fact that the governor is still serving his term until after the August vote. We are suffering in silence under officers who are abusing their offices," complained a senior county employee.

The sacked workers accused Ominde of trying to manipulate the board to have them fired so that he can have his preferred people employed.

They claimed that their dismissal amounted to sabotage and was unprocedural and punitive, and that they were not given notice.

"Somebody cannot just wake up one day and decide to fire government employees without notice," said communication officer who was affected.

But Ominde insisted that the board had no power to employ, and that its only role was to act as a recruitment agency on behalf of the county government.

Departmental authority

"The board cannot negotiate, sign recognition and collective bargaining agreements, or make substantive appointments of county personnel without my authority or that of heads of department," he said.

He said the sacked workers were hired behind his back.

"My office was not informed of these appointments and they were unprocedurally included in the payroll," he said.

The affected employees have vowed to ignore their sacking and continue working. Yesterday, the employees reported to work as usual.

They asked human rights bodies, labour unions, and other well-meaning government and private bodies to protect their interests.