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"id": 14929,
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"speaker_name": "Mrs. Noor",
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"legal_name": "Sophia Abdi Noor",
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"content": "Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, therefore, in accordance with the provisions of the Employment Act, 2007, the District Labour Officer formed the opinion that the 250 employees were actually monthly paid employees, and not casual workers as alleged by the Council. A demand notice was written by the District Labour Officer to Thika Municipal Council to pay, but the Council ignored the notice. A charge sheet was also prepared for the purpose of prosecuting the Council for the recovery of the terminal benefits on behalf of the affected employees. However, the workers have not gone back to the District Labour Officer, Thika, to pursue the same. In the absence of the former workers who were the claimants, the labour officers could not refer the matter to court. However, there was a prosecution file with the necessary charge, which was filed in the Industrial Court of Kenya under Case No.L57 of 2011 on 28th day of March, 2001 against the Town Clerk of Thika Municipal Council, and the matter came before Court No.4 of the Industrial Court for mention on the 7th day of April, 2011. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, we also got a submission from Thika Municipal Council, who confirmed that the 250 employees were casuals. They also told us that the people who were dismissed were working in the Engineering, the Social Services, and the Public Health and Environmental departments. The Engineering Department is in charge of unclogging the drainage system. The Social Services Department is in charge of clearing the streets and the Public Health Department collects garbage. They confirmed that the dismissed persons were also paying National Social Security Fund (NSSF), National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) and all sorts of statutory deductions. That was the submission given to us by the Town Clerk of Thika Municipal Council. He also confirmed that in the same month, they advertised for positions after they laid off 250 workers, and that they employed 52 people. However, the area Member of Parliament confirmed that those were relatives of the Council officials. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Local Government also confirmed that in all local Government authorities across the country, you will find relatives of council officials working in those councils. The Permanent Secretary, Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and Ministry of Local Government appeared before the Committee on 12th April, 2011 and informed the Committee that 250 workers were clarified as casual workers throughout their employment. Some of them worked for as long as 14 years but they were still casual workers. The Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Local Government sent auditors to Thika Municipal Council to ascertain the issue of the 250 workers. The auditors found that the workers were employed on ward-basis. However, the audit could not get any record on dismissal of the employees. The audit did not get the Master-Payrolls but he got payrolls. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the PS and the Minister dealing with the case of illegal employment at the municipalities and councils are not allowed to pay anyone without approval from the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Local Government. That is what he said. The PS informed us that the same situation obtained across all councils, and that they have been acting irregularly and contravening the labour laws. Therefore, the local authorities sector has very serious issues and hence the need to have a policy on the same. For a long time, the main body that carries out local authorities audit were inspectors, under Cap.2, Sub-Section 16 of the Local Authorities Act. The Council Inspector continues to audit the councils. Local authority employees are not civil servants and, therefore, any financial obligation goes to the council. It cannot go to the Exchequer. The PS offered to look into the matter of paying the workers their dues and offered to consult the Attorney-General on the actions that should be taken against the Clerk to Thika Municipal Council. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Local Government appeared before the Committee on 10th May, 2011 and informed the Committee that the Ministry had a major concern to resolve around issues of casual employees in the local authorities. Many cases had been reported from across the country, and it emerged that councils have been employing workers without adhering to the provisions of the Employment Act. Many people have been engaged without formal appointment letters. There are cases where councils were said to have been engaged with their own relatives and supporters at the ward level and forced the clerks to put them on payrolls. Many such cases have emerged. This has been going on for a long time but it was only highlighted through the audit that was carried out by the auditor. The Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Local Government had cases where husbands, wives, brothers, sisters, sons and daughters of councillors and senior officers are all working in the councils. Out of the audit, cases emerged where junior staff served as casual workers for as long as 10 years. The issue came from the audit. The Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Local Government also told us that they would take the following remedial actions. A circular letter had been sent to all councils requiring them to adhere to employment laws. Where staff have been engaged for a long period, the councils have been asked to see how best to formalize their employment. Audit and inspection officers who visit councils will start paying special attention to issues of staffing. In the case of Thika Municipal Council, a decision was taken to have all those who have been engaged for a long time to be paid their dues. The matter has been discussed with the Town Council and it has already instructed its lawyers to apply for payment of the money. The following were the observations of the Committee: The workers were employees of Thika Municipal Council as is evidenced by some letters written by the Council confirming that particular people are employees of Thika Municipal Council. The Town Clerk told us that they were not employed officially and they had no letters. However, after we investigated the matter, we found out that those who appeared before the Committee had letters of engagement from the Council. The workers were paid on a monthly basis as evidenced by the Municipal Council of Thika payment Voucher Nos.245 of 2008, 277 of 2004, 459 of 2005. There were payrolls and payment vouchers which were shown. They are attached on the Report. The employees were also paying NSSF and NHIF contributions as evidenced by the Provisional Members Statement Account and the deductions started as early as 2008. The employees did not qualify to be called “casuals” according to Section 18 of the Employment Act, 2007. The former and current Thika Municipal Council failed to comply with Section 36 of the Employment Act, 2007, as read together with Section 88(1) of the same Act by failing to grant a notice of termination to the employees and failing to pay them one month in lieu of notice amounting to Kshs1,860,642. The former and current Town Clerks of Thika Municipal Council failed to comply with the requirements of Section 2001 of the Employment Act read together with Section 88(1) of the same Act by failing to grant leave---"
}