Striking Kisii Municipal Council employees on Tuesday locked town clerk Maina Chira and engineer William Wanyonyi out of their offices, accusing them of corruption.

The workers asked them to leave the council premises and locked the gates. The employees, numbering about 300, downed their tools four days ago, saying that the council had failed to improve their working conditions, including poor payment.

Following the strike, union officials, council chief officers and Kisii acting district commissioner Mohammed Mwabudzo held an eight-hour crisis meeting to find a lasting solution to the problem.

The workers cited numerous complaints, among them failure by the local authority to remit Sh200 million to statutory bodies. They also complained that the council had failed to provide them with uniforms, protective clothing, washing materials, gloves and brooms, a situation they said exposed them to serious health hazards.

The workers further complained of harassment and victimisation by chief officers and councillors. Addressing the jeering workers at the council premises, Mr Mwabudzo asked them to resume work as the grievances were being addressed. He told the workers that a solution to their problems was not immediate because they needed to contact the head office for directions over the complaints, which made them furious.

After they failed to agree, the workers constituted an interim committee to administer on behalf of the ousted chief officers. “We are not going to resume work until all the chief officers and departmental heads are replaced,” said a worker.