The Vihiga County Government under Governor Wilberforce Otichilo has suffered a blow after a Kisumu court issued a ruling in favour of 500 dismissed health officers.
In his ruling, Kisumu Labour Relations Judge Justice Nduma Nderi, ordered the county boss through his relevant ministry pay the medics their dues after their appointment in May.
He ordered that the clinicians be paid a sum of Sh280 million for their services, pending the ruling on their dismissal. They said that the county cited irregular hiring while sacking them.
“I direct that the workers be paid their salaries from the day they started working pending the hearing and determination of this suit,” Justice Nderi ordered in his ruling.
The suit was filed by 76 medics who want eight orders from the court, including a stay of letters of termination. They insist that they were hired through the right procedure.
They claim that they were sent home by the County Public Service Board even after reaching an agreement with the county that they would be permanently hired.
This was to follow their six-month probation, after which they were also to be considered pensionable public officers in the county.