The Employment and Labour Relations Court issued orders temporarily stopping the Kiambu County Government from dismissing specialist doctors who are members of the Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union (KMPDU).
Lady Justice Hellen Wasilwa also restrained the county from recruiting new specialist doctors pending the hearing and determination of a petition filed by Dr. Gathoni Njeri Muriithi.
Through her Lawyer Henry Kurauka, Dr. Gathoni told the court that the county’s move to sack doctors and recruit new ones was unfair, unjust, and in violation of labour laws and the Constitution.
In her ruling, Justice Wasilwa certified the application as urgent and directed that the matter be heard inter parties on October 28.
Dr. Muriithi, moved to court after the county allegedly commenced the recruitment of new specialist doctors before the lapse of an advertised application deadline.
She told the court that the County Government of Kiambu and its Public Service Board had invited applications for various positions in the Department of Health, setting October 15 as the closing date.
However, upon submitting her application on that date, she was informed that candidates had already been shortlisted and interviewed before the deadline expired.
The petitioner later confirmed through the county’s official website that interviews had indeed been conducted prior to the closing date, a move she described as unfair, opaque, and unlawful.
Dr. Muriithi, a qualified obstetrician and gynecologist currently working at M.P. Shah Hospital, argued that the recruitment process violated her constitutional rights to equality, fair administrative action, and fair labour practices under Articles 27 and 41 of the Constitution.
She also claimed that the actions of the county amounted to discrimination and bad faith, contrary to the County Governments Act and the Fair Administrative Action Act, 2015.
Lawyer Kurauka, told the court that the “purported sacking and replacement of doctors was unjust, unconstitutional, and contrary to labour laws.”
He said that the county had acted maliciously against qualified medical professionals.
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