(Eldoret) – Moi University is in deeper financial crisis after the Employment and Labour Relations Court granted the Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists, and Dentists Union (KMPDU) permission to attach the university’s bank accounts due to unpaid salary arrears. The university failed to settle KSh 53.5 million owed to doctor-lecturers, prompting the union to seek court intervention.
Justice Hellen Wasilwa issued an order directing the National Bank of Kenya (NBK) in Eldoret to withhold the amount in question, pending the final resolution of a case filed by KMPDU. The union claims that the university had failed to honor a return-to-work agreement signed in July, which outlined that the arrears would be paid within 60 days of the agreement being signed.
The union’s legal counsel, Henry Kurauka, emphasized that the university had violated the terms of the agreement by not paying the owed amount. The deal was originally signed on February 11, 2022, and approved by Justice Anna Ngibuini Mwaure on July 26, 2024. As per the court’s decision, the union was granted permission to take action and seize the funds if the university failed to comply within the 60-day window.
KMPDU had claimed entitlement to the funds due to the university’s non-compliance. The union’s application, filed on November 8, 2024, was approved by the court, which granted permission to proceed with the attachment of funds. The court also directed that Moi University, as well as the Ministries of Health and Labour, be served with the relevant court documents.
The matter will be reviewed again in court on November 19, 2024, when further directions are expected. KMPDU remains firm that it is essential for the university to comply with the court’s orders to uphold the rule of law. In the meantime, the doctors had gone on strike earlier, citing the university’s failure to pay them their salaries and enhanced clinical allowances, which had been released by the Treasury.
In the court’s ruling from July, Justice Ngibuini Mwaure noted that the university did not dispute owing the money or the validity of the agreement. She had instructed the university to pay the arrears or face execution proceedings, a ruling that now allows the union to proceed with efforts to recover the owed amount.