By KPC Reporter
A labour court has ordered the County Government of Kisii to compensate two senior officers dismissed through an unfair and legally flawed process.
In two separate judgments delivered on December 9 and 11, Justice Nzioki wa Makau sitting in Kisumu, found that the removal of former Chief Officers Casper Ondoro and Helina Kemunto Moranga contravened the employment law and the county’s own human resource manual.
The pair, Mr. Ondoro, formerly in charge of Public Participation, Disaster Management and Special Programs, and Ms. Moranga, formerly heading Youth, Sports, Culture, Arts and Social Services, had been interdicted last year over alleged misconduct.
Unsatisfied, they challenged their suspensions, disciplinary hearings, and eventual dismissals, arguing that the accusations were baseless and that the disciplinary process was rushed, unfair, and in violation of mandatory HR procedures.
In Mr. Ondoro’s case, Justice Makau noted that the county issued him a show-cause letter on August 21, 2023, giving him only seven days to respond, despite county HR policy requiring at least 21 days.
“The Respondent was required under the HR policies in place to give the Claimant 21 days… and the Claimant was given only 7,” the judge observed, adding that this “defeats the entire logic of the process.”
The court further found that by the time payment was made to a contractor, one of the issues cited against Mr. Ondoro, he had already been stripped of all authority.
“The instructions to pay were issued after the Claimant was suspended… he was therefore stripped of any rights whatsoever to authorize payment,” Justice Makau said in his judgement.
He criticised the disciplinary process as “truncated” and concluded that the termination was unfair, awarding Mr. Ondoro Sh2.635 million, a month’s salary in lieu of notice, plus costs and interest.
Separately the court found that Ms. Moranga’s case bore similar hallmarks of procedural injustice as she had been accused of irregularly authorizing imprest for KICOSCA games and certifying payment for allegedly defective items.
However, Justice Makau found that crucial evidence was never presented against her and that she had, in fact, rejected the defective goods.
It also emerged that the imprest she prepared was never used, and a separate imprest of KSh8.3 million was prepared without her involvement and eventually processed.
The court noted that the county ignored the mandatory HR timelines and failed to form the Human Resource Management Advisory Committee that should have investigated the matter.
Justice Makau ruled that “instead of availing the Claimant the safeguards under the Human Resource policy, (the County) gave the Claimant short periods to respond… despite the manifest failure in adherence to the timelines.”
He also said that Ms. Moranga was a “victim of poor systems at the Respondent,” noting that the goods at the centre of the procurement dispute were returned “with no loss to the Respondent.”
Though the court declined to reinstate her or grant exemplary damages, it awarded her KSh2.196 million for unlawful dismissal, plus a month’s salary in lieu of notice, costs, interest, and a certificate of service.
Reading the two judgements, it emerged that the Judge poked holes in the county’s handling of disciplinary procedures, stressing that public employers must adhere to constitutional principles of fair administrative action.
For instance in Mr. Ondoro’s case, the court emphasised that despite being invited to a disciplinary hearing, the flawed process before the session tainted everything that followed. ,
“It defeats the entire logic of the process to subject an employee to a shortened period of response… and when the employee fails to exonerate themselves, the employee is dismissed,” the judge wrote.
In Ms. Moranga’s matter, the court noted that the process was not only rushed but also factually unsound.
“Even though the process was faulty, the Claimant had a role to play as the accounting officer and for that her compensation will be limited,” Justice Makau said.
Both officers had appealed to the Public Service Commission (PSC) before moving to court after their appeals were dismissed.
The court observed that the Commission failed to fully interrogate the substance of the allegations.
“It is crystal clear that the Commission never considered the allegations levelled against the Claimant… and simply held that the disciplinary process was fair,” the judge said in Mr. Ondoro’s matter.
Cumulatively, the county will pay over Sh5.2 million in compensation to the two officers.