Besieged Kenya National Union of Nurses (KNUN) chairman won a reprieve today after the high court reversed a decision that had ousted him from the position.
Justice Monica Mbaru of the Employment and Labor Relation court in a ruling temporarily reinstated John Mbii saying the orders will remain in force pending the hearing and determination of the application challenging the decision.
Mbii had been removed from his position following a disagreement with the Union’s Secretary General Seth Panyako.
But yesterday, Monica Mbaru while issuing the temporary orders said that the meeting held by Kenya Union of nurses’ executive committee led by Panyako was illegal and was convened contrary to court orders.
In the matter, John Bii had moved to court seeking orders to relief Panyako off his duties as the secretary general on the basis of misuse of the office.
He argued that Panyako mismanaged and misused the financial and other resources of KNUN and continues to misuse and misappropriate financial and other resources.
He says that on June, 1 2016 and December 23, 2016, a Toyota Prado which is assigned to Panyako to aid him in the discharge of his duties as a General Secretary, mysteriously disappeared and could not be traced for several months.
He says that he has reasons to believe that the he was using the said motor vehicle for his private use, including conducting his political campaigns for the position of the Senator, Kakamega County for 2017.
Bii argues that Panyako’s wife, Lucy Mwangi who was previously employed by the Union under permanent and pensionable terms left her job without notice which was in breach of terms and conditions of the employment.
He says the woman was never asked to clear with the Union and return the Union’s properties namely a Laptop, an Ipad and the office Smartphone.
He further accuses Panyako of making irregular payments amounting to shs 150,000 to the said Lucy W. Mwangi while at that time she was neither a supplier nor an employee of the union.
“I have reasons to believe that the Respondent has in the immediate past made illegal payments to the said Lucy Mwangi which when cumulated may amount to colossal sums of money which can only be ascertained through a forensic audit,” he said in court documents.
Bii further accuses Panyako of unilaterally and irregularly disbanding Branches of the Union including Lamu, Nandi and Bomet branches without involving the National Executive Council
Panyako is further accused of acting in cohorts with the Chief Executive Officer of Local Authorities Provided Fund (LAPFUND) by purporting to sign an illegal MoU between the Union and LAPFUND which misled members the Provident Fund, in blatant violation of section 132 of the County Government Act which law mandatorily requires county employees to subscribe to an existing pension scheme for officers and staff of local government.
He wants Registrar of Trade Unions be ordered to commission an Independent Forensic Audit into Panyako’s affairs to ensure that the funds and assets of the Union are protected from misappropriation pending hearing and determination of this claim.
Justice Mbaru directed the parties to file their pleadings pending hearing of the case.
The matter will be mentioned on 26th Feb 2016.
