BY KAGE NJOROGE
FORMER tutors at Village Youth Polytechnics have accused the national government of violating their employment rights by sending them home without paying retirement benefits.
These instructors are complaining that the government failed to recognise them as it’s employees for the time they were in public service.
The National Chairman of Kenya Youth Polytechnics (KYPI) instructors Noah Mwangi Karoki explained that they are wallowing in poverty after spending their active prime years, working in these training institutions.
He pointed out that they were forced to retire without pension and related benefits from their years of employment. This is total violation of labour rights enshrined in the 2010 constitution.
Karoki said the government claimed they were employed by the respective communities managing the youth polytechnics, but not the Public Service Commission (PSC).
However, Karoki tabled documents of employment and policies which managed them and sighed by officers of national government.
He said the government claims it was merely providing grants to support their perks without responsibilities of their full employment.
Karoki further provided official headed documents which proves that they government workers.
The chairman said they were hired initially under the Ministry of Social Services and tossed through various ministries.
These include Ministries of Labour, Youth Affairs, Education, Science and Technology over the years before devolution in 2013.
There trouble deepened in 2007 when the government employed other instructors through PSC under new terms in the then Ministry of Youth Affairs to work at the same polytechnics.
This recruitment forced some of them to early retirement without any payment.
The problem escalated with the constitutional creation of devolution which axed them to county governments.
The new county governments rejected to take responsibilities of their earlier employment demands with national government.
Karoki points that they have been fighting for their rightful dues and were left to move from public office to the other without anyone willing to take responsibility.
The over 400 instructors now in retirement drawn across the country are petitioning the national government to recognize them and pay their dues in respect of labour laws and rights of public servants.
Karoki displayed a letter they have written to the chairman of Parliamentary Budget Committee Kanini Kega demanding him to factor their dues in the 2021/2022 budgetary estimates.
The elderly retirees have no funds to seek for redress in courts. They are asking for human rights organizations to intervene and support them, saying they have strong employment documents to provide credible evidence against the government to win the case.
