Super Metro CEO, Nelson Nduki, has clarified that the 269 drivers, whom the sacco has been ordered to dismiss, will eventually be rehired by the sacco.
Speaking in a phone call with Kenyans.co.ke on Tuesday, April 15, the CEO stated that the drivers will be disengaged, taken through a retest, and then rehired by the company.
Nduki has, however, affirmed that the dismissal of the drivers will not affect the sacco’s operations, as it has sufficient drivers to fill the gaps.
"When we have 550 vehicles, it means that each vehicle is supposed to have two drivers in case one is off duty, so even disengaging these drivers will not hurt our business," he assured.
"We are not disengaging them and expelling them from our company; we are going to disengage them if they go for a retest, and then they come back. Currently, what we are going to do is that we will disengage them, then we will operate with the ones we have," he said.
The CEO has, however, noted that the sacco will not appeal the decision by the court, which he branded an 'injustice', and will instead comply fully with the directives by the end of the day.
"Now that we were given three days to do this and it is something that can be done within a day, by the close of today, so by the close of today we, will have complied by what we were asked to do by the court so that by tomorrow we go back to present the compliance," he said.
On Monday, April 14, hours before the sacco announced that it would be suspending operations for the next three days, the Transport Licensing Appeals Board (TLAB) tribunal directed the sacco to sack the 269 drivers before it could resume operations.
The tribunal further ordered the sacco to present 42 drivers with overspeeding violations at the Likoni Driver Test Centre for retesting.
Super Metro was also ordered to present eight vehicles at the Likoni Motor Vehicle Inspection Centre, which had various violations related to speed limiters.
Additionally, TLAB directed the sacco to present 31 vehicles with compliance inspection issues at the inspection centre, which are also expected to be presented for re-evaluation. The sacco was also required to submit a compliance report to the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA).
Lastly, the sacco is also required to present an attendance list of the Road Safety Sensitisation of all its drivers to the Director of Road Safety at NTSA.
The matter will be mentioned on April 17 to confirm compliance and the issuance of further directions.
"The appellant shall forthwith cease operations pending further orders upon confirmation of compliance with the terms of the orders herein," the statement read.
