This archive report was first published on 29 July 2019.
As the battle to control public water services rages on, water companies in Murang'a have warned their employees against signing up with an umbrella body registered by the County Government. In advertisements made in vernacular radio stations, the companies told their more than 300 staff to ignore a directive that would have them placed under the Murang'a Water and Sewerage Services Corporation by July 31.
According to a Kenya Gazette notice, the county government had given five service providers up to the end of the month to submit payrolls and names of more than 300 employees to the corporation's acting CEO Kinandu Muragu. However, the county government's offer was met with resistance from the water workers, who claim that the terms are unacceptable.
"We will not be intimidated by the county government's offer," said Francis Kamanga, the chairman of the Murang'a Water Workers branch. He added that the water firms' staff were not employees of the county government because they were employed by boards through the Companies Act.
The Water Service Regulatory Board (Wasreb) also outlawed handing over of employees and payroll records to the new corporation. In a letter dated July 24, Wasreb said the corporation was not envisaged in Section 77 of the Water Act, 2016.
"The regulator is not aware and neither has it been privy to memorandum of objects and articles of association of this corporation," read the letter by CEO Robert Gakubia.
Published on July 29, 2019.
