The Siaya County Assembly has begun investigations into allegations of unfair dismissal and non-payment of healthcare workers after 259 petitioners accused the county of branding them as “ghost workers” and sending them away without salaries.
In a petition tabled on Monday, the workers said they were recruited by the County Public Service Board in January and deployed to different health facilities, where they served for eight months without pay before being abruptly dismissed on September 11.
They claimed county authorities accused them of presenting “fake employment documents.”
The petition, dated September 15, 2025, signed by representatives Brian Ochieng’, Felix Omondi and Emily Anyango, revealed that out of 502 recruits, 382 were struck off the payroll while only 120 were retained.
The workers said they had already been subjected to two verification exercises earlier in the year, where they were confirmed to be properly engaged and actively serving at their stations.
Despite this, they alleged they were dismissed without notice and denied any form of remuneration for the period they worked.
The petitioners accused the county government of violating their constitutional rights under Articles 27, 28, 41 and 47, which guarantee equality, dignity, fair labour practices and fair administrative action.
They asked the assembly to intervene by compelling the Health CEC and the County Public Service Board to release official records of recruitment and verification exercises. They also demanded reinstatement or lawful justification for their removal, alongside payment of all pending salaries and allowances for the eight months served.
While acknowledging the petition on Tuesday, Speaker George Okode described it as a matter of immense public interest.
“The matters raised cut across the mandates of the committee on Health Services and the committee on Governance and Administration.
However, due to its emergent nature and immense public interest, I commit it to the committee on General oversight for consideration,” he said.
The oversight committee has been tasked with investigating the entire process of recruitment, deployment, verification and subsequent dismissal of the workers.
It will also examine the authenticity of employment documents such as offer letters, appointment letters, deployment notices and arrival reports.
All petitioners are to be individually invited through a public notice to present their employment documents within seven days for verification and to undergo interrogation before the committee, alongside county officials.
“It’s in the public domain that whereas the petitioners are alleging that they were unfairly dismissed, the county executive alleged that the petitioners got into the county public service fraudulently. It is in this regard that I have provided the guidelines with a view to protecting the rights of the petitioners in case such right could have been infringed and protect public interest in the instance where employment may have been secured through fraudulent means,” Okode said.
The committee has 30 days to table its report with recommendations to the assembly.
Okode cautioned members to strictly comply with Section 11 of the Conflict of Interest Act, 2025, to preserve the integrity of the process, and urged the executive to halt any further administrative action against the dismissed workers until the probe is concluded.
The petition has sparked concern among residents and health stakeholders, with fears that losing more than 380 health workers could cripple service delivery in the county’s already strained facilities.
The outcome of the investigation is expected to test accountability within the county public service and influence future recruitment practices.
