More than 2,500 ex-workers of the defunct Karuturi Flower Farm have pledged to stop the sale of the firm’s assets.
They said on Friday they want a clear statement of how their Sh220 million dues will be paid before Stanbic Bank auctions the firm’s assets.
Last Friday, the Court of Appeal ruled that all listed assets of the Naivasha-based firm to be sold.
This includes those of its guarantors Surya Holdings Limited and Rhea Holdings limited.
An auction date has not been set.
The ruling followed the dismissal of an appeal against an earlier court ruling that allowed the sale.
In the appeal, the firm had filed a contempt of court case against Stanbic Bank Kenya for initiating an expression of interest process for the company’s assets
The ruling shows that judges William Ouko, Stephen Gatembu Kairu, and Daniel Musinga dismissed the appeal case with the cost to Karuturi.
Speaking during a ceremony on the company’s premises, the workers’ representative Samson Auda faulted the judges for not considering a worker’s union affidavit filed in support of the case.
The affidavit, he said, details the wrongdoings of the receivership, which has “laid to waste” the once prosperous township with state of the art healthcare, housing, education, and the once famous Karuturi Premier League Football Team.
“We want to tell Stanbic Bank and its receivers to tread carefully. Throughout this case the bank has exhibited a very high level of greed and a clear lack of empathy to workers’ plight,” Auda said.
He said that since 2014 when the firm was put under receivership, Stanbic Bank has never paid anyone doesn’t seem to care.
“We are warning them against stepping onto this farm or sending any associates until they present us a proposal on how our Sh220 million dues will be settled,” He said.
The workers expressed frustration, saying the bank misled them in 2014 into filing an affidavit in court to support receivership.
In return, they were promised job protection and any other benefits accrued in the process.
Today, they claim that the bank has turned its back on them, denied them employment since March 2016, claiming that under receivership, the benefits stand annulled.
Further, according to Auda, the bank is seeking to evict them from the company’s housing.
As of the ruling on Friday, the worker’s representative said Stanbic Bank has already shut down the 100-bed company-run hospital and denied all support to company- owned schools.
“We are taking over the farm and will continue tilling the land to recover our lost livelihood and benefits,” the workers said.