The Employment and Labor relations court has stopped the Nairobi City County Assembly Service Board and the Acting Clerk Adah Anyango from interdicting 10 employees.
The orders were issued by Justice Maureen Onyango on 18th November 2021.
The court issued the orders against the backdrop that the Assembly Board led by Speaker Benson Mutura, MCA Abdi Guyo and other members attempted to restructure the organization without following the due process.
On 12th November, Justice Kebira Ocharo stopped the Assembly from carrying out the restricting process which affected more than 30 employees.
The employees through their lawyer served the Assembly with the orders.
However, after being served, the Clerk of the Assembly Adah Anyango, Speaker Benson Mutura and Board member Abdi Guyo interdicted 10 of the employees.
Its then that they went to court and obtained orders to stop the interdiction.
The orders were issued on 18th November 2021.
Lawyer Brian Khamba who is representing the staff said the restructuring process left some employees who were earning shs 50,000 to earn as little as shs 3,000.
He said more than 30 staff went to court to have the decision rescinded but the Assembly Board and the Acting Clerk decided to interdict 10 of them which is against the law.
He said some of the employees had taken loans and when the process was carried out, they got nothing on their payslips.
“The decision was made unilaterally without following provisions governing restructuring. We obtained stay orders and when we served them against the Assembly, they went ahead to interdict the staff,” he said.
Khaemba said they have since obtained orders requiring that the employees return to work.
“If the Assembly Board and the Clerk do not allow the employees back to work, we will cite them for contempt of court and have them arrested,” he said.
He said the Clerk has no powers to punish an employee for going to court.
“I urge the Assembly to allow the employees back to work and later find an amicable way of solving this issue” Khaemba said.