Five public sector unions have accused Kakamega County Attorney of frustrating the signing of a long-awaited Recognition Agreement (RA) after a day-long meeting convened by the county government ended without a deal.
The union leaders, who had travelled from different parts of the country at the invitation of the Kakamega County Public Service Board, said they spent more than nine hours in meetings only for the process to collapse after the county attorney allegedly failed to append his signature to the document.
Speaking during a press briefing held late Tuesday evening, Kenya Environmental Health and Public Health Practitioners Union (KEHPHPU) Secretary General Brown Ashira expressed frustration over what he termed as deliberate attempts to derail the process.
"We are not happy as a union," said Ashira. "We have signed Recognition Agreements in more than 20 counties. Bringing five national unions to Kakamega and keeping us here for over 10 hours only for one person to frustrate the process is unacceptable."
The Recognition Agreement forms the legal framework governing engagement between employers and trade unions and paves the way for negotiations on workers' welfare and labour issues.
Ashira noted that unlike a Collective Bargaining Agreement, the Recognition Agreement carries no direct financial implications for the county government.
"It does not attract any monetary value. This is not a CBA. We are talking about a Recognition Agreement founded on international labour standards," he said.
The unions issued the county government with a three-day ultimatum to conclude the process, warning of industrial action should the agreement fail to materialise.
"If they fail to do it in three days, we shall be back here with a language they will understand," Ashira warned.
KEHPHPU Deputy Secretary General Caro Macharia said failure to sign the agreement reflected poorly on the county's commitment to the welfare of health workers.
"When the county government shows no goodwill in signing a Recognition Agreement, it shows there is no goodwill to take care of the welfare of health staff in this county," she said.
Union of Kenya Civil Servants Secretary General Lawrence Nyaguti Ochieng' directly blamed the county attorney for the failed process and called on Governor Fernandes Barasa to take disciplinary action.
"We want to condemn the county attorney of Kakamega County for letting the governor down," Nyaguti said. "Their role is to witness and advise, not to interfere with labour relations."
Nyaguti further warned that public sector unions could reconsider their political support for the county leadership if action was not taken against the official.
Kenya National Union of Pharmaceutical Technologists chairman Kenneth Omog described the day's events as an "intellectual abuse" of union officials who had honoured the county's invitation.
"If the attorney was unavailable, why invite all five unions to Kakamega?" he posed.
The unions said county officials had committed to conclude the signing process within three days, failing which they would escalate the matter nationally.
The latest standoff comes weeks after health unions accused county governments of frustrating efforts to transition Universal Health Coverage workers to permanent and pensionable terms, signalling growing tensions between county administrations and public sector workers over labour relations and healthcare staffing.
