A group of nurses has been given the green light by the courts to auction property belonging to the government.
On Tuesday, September 21, the Employment and Labour Relations Court allowed the Kenya National Union of Nurses (Knun) to auction property belonging to the Murang'a County Government.
In delivering the ruling delivered by Justice Marete Njagi, the court stated that the county had failed to remit the monthly statutory fees totaling to Ksh3 million.
According to the court, the county government had failed to pay statutory deductions, defying a judgement requiring them to do so.
The devolved unit failed to remit deductions from January 2019 amounting to Ksh2.4 million and Ksh765,000 between March and October in 2018.
“The amount for the auction has been derived from a decretal fee of Sh3 million, interest of Sh31,000 and a court fee of Sh2,000,” stated the court's Deputy Registrar, Mercyline Nafula.
The court ordered Icon Auctioneers to proceed with the sale of moveable property belonging to Muranga County as well as its County Public Service Board.
Nafuka stated that the auction would be held on or before November 12.
Justice Njagi found the county government and the CPSB at fault for failing to deduct trade union fees from the employee salaries. Instead, they included Ksh500 in the nurses salaries.
He termed the move as a breach of the Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBAs) signed by county governments and the union. Njagi explained that the failure to pay the fees paralysed the operations of the Knun branch offices.
Mwangi wa Iria's government was ordered to meet the obligation from its own pocket.
The Labur Court further quashed the circular by the Council of Governors (COG) directing county governments to stop issuing the deductions to KNUN. It ruled that the COG lacked the mandate to issue any directives to CPSB on issues concerning nurses.
