A group of Embu County workers on Thursday stormed the county headquarters to protest recent mass layoffs.
The workers accused the county government of allegedly failing to renew the contracts of about 99 workers without a viable reason.
While protesting the irregular sackings, the workers called on Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua to intervene immediately and have their jobs restored.
“Gachagua, we are suffering. We chose UDA (United Democratic Alliance), and we are hustlers being harassed like this. Which side of Mt Kenya are we in,” a worker furiously lamented.
According to the workers, the county government allegedly sacked them for no reason and went ahead to hire new employees from outside the county.
The retrenched employees thus faulted the county government for failing to give them priority during the recruitment.
"They laid them off, many of us, and they employed people from outside and told us one morning without notice,” lamented one worker.
Another worker noted that expelled employees were facing financial constraints after they were rendered jobless.
"If it is possible, let these people be reinstated so that they can continue with their jobs," noted one of the protestors
While addressing the press, the county workers' representative also accused the county government of contemptuously tarnishing the reputation of the workers by firing them.
The workers also complained that their replacements were elderly and thus could not work at the same rate they did, hence affecting operations.
"We will not agree. This is improper and against all forms of employment, so we reject the move not to follow the law," the workers' representative noted.
The protesting workers vowed to seek legal redress and be reinstated since most of them have families that depend on them.
