Embu County sacks over 60 employees

By Joseph Muchiri

Embu, Kenya: Over 60 employees serving in the Embu County Executive were Monday sacked because their employment was allegedly flawed.

The Embu County Public Service Board issued letters of termination of employment to the affected employees who included drivers, clerks, secretaries and some directors who were all employed in November.

County Chief Officer in charge of administration Tim Gutettah said the employment of the entire lot was flawed.

He said their appointment letters had been signed by the County Secretary as opposed to the secretary of the County Public Service board.

Gutettah said the process was flawed since the employees did not go through appointment procedurally and directed us to the County Public Service Board for finer details.

"Most of the functions they were serving had been devolved to counties. Employees from devolved ministries will be absorbed to fill the positions," he said.

He said they will conduct a staff evaluation and if they find gaps, the sacked employees would be considered.

County Public Service Board Secretary Johnson Nyaggah declined to comment on the matter saying it is only the acting chairperson who is authorised to speak to the media.

The acting chairperson was reportedly unwell thus out of office.

However, some the affected employees who got their termination letters met and resolved to move to court to contest the sacking saying they were being punished because of a disagreement involving senior county officials.

An employee who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals said they were informed on Friday that they would be relieved off their jobs on Monday.

He said they were told they would be given one month salary in lieu of notice but were protesting it because were employed on permanent and pensionable terms.