Five health workers' unions have issued Kakamega Governor Fernandes Barasa with a three-day ultimatum to resolve a standoff over the signing of a long-awaited Recognition Agreement, accusing the County Attorney of frustrating the process and warning that they will withdraw their members' services if the matter is not addressed.
The unions claim County Attorney Vivian Mmbaka deliberately failed to attend the scheduled signing ceremony on Tuesday, an action they say derailed efforts to formalise labour relations between the county government and thousands of public health workers.
The signing ceremony, which had been expected to last about two hours, dragged on for the better part of the day without yielding any agreement after officials from the County Attorney's office reportedly failed to turn up.
Union leaders said they arrived at the Kakamega County Headquarters at 9am following an official invitation by the county government but remained in the boardroom until about 6 p.m. waiting for the County Attorney and her legal team, who they said had attended court proceedings instead.
The unions maintained that although the Chairperson of the Kakamega County Public Service Board was present, the absence of the County Attorney stalled the signing process.
Kenya Environmental Health and Public Health Practitioners Union (KEHPHPU) Secretary General Brown Ashira termed the incident an act of sabotage aimed at frustrating the implementation of a Recognition Agreement, which is required under labour laws to establish a formal working relationship between an employer and a trade union.
Ashira alleged that the County Attorney had sought to play a role beyond her legal mandate by insisting on participating in the signing and altering clauses contained in the agreement.
"The work of the County Attorney is simply to witness the signing and provide legal advice. She is not supposed to be a signatory or alter clauses in the agreement. That responsibility lies with the Chief Executive Officer of the County Public Service Board, which is an independent constitutional office," he said.
He said the unions had already signed their part of the agreement and were awaiting the county government to append its signature within the three-day ultimatum.
"We are giving Governor Barasa three days to crack the whip on the County Attorney. If no action is taken, we shall withdraw the services of our members and paralyse healthcare services across Kakamega County. We cannot allow one individual to frustrate workers' rights," Ashira added.
Union of Kenya Civil Servants (UKCS) Secretary General Lawrence Nyaguti echoed the sentiments, saying county attorneys should not interfere with labour relations.
"We will not allow anyone to interfere with labour relations. We are determined to protect the welfare of our members, and Kakamega should serve as an example to other counties where legal officers frustrate workers' rights," he added.
The National Chairman of the Kenya National Union of Pharmaceutical Technologists (KNUPT), Kenneth Omog, accused the county government of wasting the unions' time despite extending an official invitation for the signing ceremony.
"We have signed Recognition Agreements in more than 20 counties without any problems. It is unfortunate that after spending the whole day in Kakamega, we were informed that the County Attorney was unavailable. We have issued a three-day notice for the county to complete its part of the process, failure to which we shall down our tools," said Omog.
The Standard did not get a comment from Kakamega County Attorney Vivian Mmbaka by the time of publishing, as she neither responded to phone calls nor replied to text messages to respond to the allegations.
