Nyeri county has released Sh30 million which is part of Sh57 million owed to more than 562 staff of the defunct Nyeri local authorities.
The arrears were released after eight years of waiting after transition from local authorities to county governments following the promulgation of the 2010 Kenya Constitution.
But the employees’ liabilities were transferred to the county.
The arrears were to be paid by former regimes about eight years ago but that did not materialise.
“I am happy that as we stand here, we have been able to pay Sh30 million being part of the claims of the Sh57 million," Governor Mutahi Kahiga said.
"Because of budgetary constraints, we decided that we will pay the money in two phases."
The money was in form of annual leave allowances, overtime claims and uniform arrears of the employees who worked for the defunct Othaya town council, Karatina municipal council, Nyeri municipal council and Nyeri county council.
However, the money was not paid out due to various outstanding issues such as disagreements between the local authorities and the workers union.
Kahiga, while addressing the former employees outside his office in Nyeri town on Wednesday, said the money will be paid alongside their December salaries.
The remaining Sh27 million will be paid once money is available, he said.
The payment materialised following dialogue between County Public Service Board and the Kenya County Government Workers Union (Nyeri branch) in a bid to resolve the matter.
This was after the court directed that both the county and the union seek an out of court settlement.
The board and the union agreed that the matter be raised with the Intergovernmental Relations Technical Committee since the claims arose during the transition to the devolved government.
The report was sent to the committee and further adopted by the summit.
Governor Kahiga thanked the staff for being patient during the long wait, saying some of the staff owed the money have since died while others have retired.
“I am sure they will now be happy as they celebrate the festive season," he said.
"Many of them, as you can see, are old men and women who have retired and others are still in service.”
However, Kahiga said there are a number of other pending issues like promotions, which he said his government will address.
“With a county government and with one county public service board, we must streamline that [promotions] and bring everyone onboard so that we are able to progress,” he added.
(edited by Amol Awuor)