Senators have blocked a bid by the state to form an inter-ministerial committee to resolve the dispute between KCC and ex-workers.....CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE>>>
The contention is over a prolonged compensation case running to over Sh200 million.
Solicitor General Shadrack Mose sought to involve the ministries of Agriculture, Cooperatives and the National Treasury to audit and validate claims made by the former workers.
“The committee should be tasked to collate, audit, verify, authenticate and validate the claims and recommend whether or not the same should be settled and to what extent, within reasonable timelines,” he said.
Mose spoke when he appeared before the Senate’s Labour and Social Welfare Committee on Thursday.
However, the committee members flatly rejected Mose’s call.
The lawmakers argued that such an approach would introduce unnecessary bureaucratic delays.
Nominated Senator Gloria Orwoba, in rejecting the proposal, insisted that the Senate was well-equipped to handle the issue.
“Why should we constitute another committee? We have resolved pressing national matters within this very committee, including the concerns of tea farmers and produced substantive reports,” she said.
Orwoba argued that substantial resources have been allocated to the New KCC in recent months that can be used to pay the former employees.
She cited the government’s investment of Sh700 million towards the company’s modernisation and a subsequent Sh1 billion to ensure prompt payments to farmers.
“Considering the resources already dedicated to New KCC and the approximately Sh200 million sought by the petitioners, why can’t we prioritise settling these dues?” Orwoba pressed.
Kilifi Senator Stewart Madzayo drew parallels to previous Senate-led resolutions in labour disputes.
Notably, the successful mediation between Kenya Railways and its pensioners under the Kenya Railways Staff Retirement Benefits Scheme.
“When this issue first began in 1997, these petitioners were young. Today, many are advanced in age. If we apply the same approach, we used for Kenya Railways, we can achieve a swift resolution,” Madzayo observed.
Senator George Mbugua, who is the vice chairman of the committee, expressed frustration over the extended delays, stressing the urgency of the matter.
“Some of the petitioners have already passed on while waiting for justice. We cannot allow this to drag on any further,” he said, calling for a clear timeline to bring the matter to a close.
The committee has been seeking to unlock the payment of the ex-KCC workers following a petition to the House.
Raphael Nambisia, a representative of the petitioners and former employees of KCC, recounted the origins of their plight, tracing it back to the late 1990s.
“The School Milk Programme (popularly known as maziwa ya Nyayo) was the root of the problem,” Nambisia said.
“KCC was responsible for supplying milk to all the primary schools across the country, but the government failed to settle its payments with the creamery.”
This resulted in KCC incurring heavy debt and subsequently, redirected funds meant for workers’ Sacco contributions and other payments to the milk programme.
In 1997, when KCC employees sought explanations for the non-remittance of their Sacco contributions, they were unjustly barred from their workplaces.
This marked the beginning of a protracted legal battle, spanning from the industrial court to the Court of Appeal.
The demand for milk also saw farmers being encouraged to increase their production to meet the increased market.
Following an industrial court ruling that ordered either the reinstatement of the workers or payment of their terminal dues, KCC prepared a compensation schedule.
This included terminal benefits amounting to Sh109.64 million and outstanding Sacco dues of Sh92.80 million.
However, in July 2020, a three-judge bench at the Court of Appeal overturned a High Court ruling, which had held the New KCC liable for the terminal dues of the aggrieved workers.
In the ruling, the Court of Appeal shut the door to former employees overturning a decision that found the newly incorporated company liable to pay them over Sh100 million in terminal dues.
The judges ruled that New KCC, incorporated in 2004, could not take over the liabilities of its predecessor and that the two were separate companies.
Justices William Ouko, Wanjiru Karanja and Patrick Kiage, however urged the state to settle the dues.
“Having said so, however and legalities aside, we hold on to the hope that the Attorney General will find it in him to advise the government to honour its word and pay the first respondents who have suffered long.”
The former employees, led by John Bari, had sued New KCC seeking Sh109.64 million.
They also sought a Sh92.8 million refund that the company failed to remit to Maziwa Sacco…CLICK HERE FOR MORE ARTICLE>>>
