By Mdadisi Mmoja
Senator Alexander Mundigi of Embu County was left in shock last week when the Employment and Labour Relations Court awarded his former personal assistant Evans Ndaru Nthiga over six million shillings for the unfair termination of a contract.
In Case No. MERU ELRC No. E009/2023, the court ruled that there was a breach of the employment contract and the termination of the employment was wrong, unlawful, unfair, and unconstitutional. Mr. Nthiga was awarded the following: Pay in lieu of one month’s notice Ksh. 200,000 in damages for unfair termination of employment, 12 months’ salary as general damages for wrongful dismissal and unlawful and unfair termination amounting to Ksh. 2,400,000, and gratuity at the rate of 31% of the total salary payable during his employment amounting to Ksh. 3,720,000.
Senator Mundigi’s shock at the outcome of the case is perhaps due to the scale of the award, some MPs in Kenya hold the mistaken belief that they are untouchable even before a court of law. Legal outcomes like these can have a considerable negative impact on the Senators’ political career.
The award comes soon after the senator came under attack from a section of his 17 employees in his Embu office who claim that he has failed to remit statutory deductions to the relevant bodies for an entire year. Statutory deductions like NHIF and NSSF are mandatory payments that employers are required to withhold from employees’ salaries and remit to relevant bodies. Failure to remit these deductions can lead to legal action by the authorities responsible for overseeing these payments.
There could be significant penalties, fines, or even legal proceedings against the senator. Employees may face issues such as unpaid pensions or social security benefits, which can affect their financial stability and future planning.
It has been alleged that the senator has been making unauthorised deductions from staff salaries based in his office in Nairobi. For example, the following members of staff in Nairobi have been losing money each month to illegal deductions: Personal Assistant (PA) Ksh. 75,000, Office Assistant Ksh. 30,000, Office Manager Ksh. 60,000, Driver Ksh. 60,000, and Secretary Ksh. 21,000.
