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Kenya: Employers Demand Special Labour Courts
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The Nation (Nairobi)
28 March 2008
Posted to the web 28 March 2008
Watoro Kamau
Nairobi
Employers want the government to designate special courts to handle labour-related matters.
Magistrates and judges presiding over those courts should be well versed in labour laws to enable them to make informed decisions.
The Rift Valley branch of the Federation of Kenya Employers (FKE) cites instances where judicial officers issued different judgments in cases of a similar nature.
The branch chairman, Mr Paul Matelong, said it had become difficult to use some of those contradictory court awards as references.
Mr Matelong was speaking at the branch's 20th annual general meeting at the Rift Valley Sports Club on Wednesday.
Among those present were the federation's executive director Mrs Jacqueline Mugo and the acting Labour Commissioner, Mr Isiah Kirigua, who was the chief guest.
Mr Matelong said that most rural roads in the region were in a deplorable state which affected the transportation of farm produce to markets.
He said frequent power black-outs and interruptions had adversely affected business operations.
In response, Mr Kirigua said that the government would soon designate special courts to handle labour-related matters in line with recently enacted labour laws.
He said this would enable the government to train the magistrates to enable them to effectively handle labour matters.
Mr Kirigua said the government was willing to engage employers and union officials over their concerns regarding losses incurred due to the poor transportation system in the country.
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The federation's national chairman, Engineer Patrick Obath said in a speech read on his behalf by Mrs Mugo that the organisation had registered 317 collective bargaining agreements at national level.
He also called on the government to rationalise all business licenses and levies to reduce costs associated with such regulations.
Engineer Obath said there was an urgent need for the government to improve the security situation as the state of insecurity escalated the cost of doing business and scared away potential investors.
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