Following a road accident, the management of Nairobi Water made no steps whatsoever to accommodate Mr James Njaramba Mwangi special needs save for the payment of a monthly personal guide allowance of Ksh. 15,000
By The Weekly Vision
The Employment and Labour Relations Court has awarded James Njaramba Mwangi Ksh. 800,000 as compensation against his employer, the Nairobi City Water & Sewerage Company Limited for discrimination following a road accident.
A ruling dated 28th April 2023 by Judge Stella Ruto reads in part “A declaration that the claimant was discriminated against and as a consequence, he is awarded damages in the sum of Ksh. 800,000 and that the claimant is entitled to acting allowance from January 2006 to the date of filing the suit”. Mr Mwangi was employed by Nairobi Water in 1999 as a Marketing Assistant and in 2006, he was appointed to serve in an acting capacity as a reconnection/disconnection supervisor, a duty he still performs to date albeit in an acting capacity. In August 2009, he was involved in a road accident that left him unable to walk and severely limited his functions
Following a road accident, the management of Nairobi Water made no steps whatsoever to accommodate his special needs save for the payment of a monthly personal guide allowance of Ksh. 15,000. In August 2008, he wrote to the Human Resource Manager requesting confirmation as he had been serving in an acting capacity for two years and had obtained the necessary qualification. Among the supervisors with qualifications, he is still the only one serving in an acting capacity. He has written severally to his employer on the issue but has not received any response.
He became apprehensive that he was being discriminated against based on his disability hence he raised the issue again on 30th May 2018 and a reminder on 10th July 2018. He further testified that he has never been paid an acting allowance since January 2006. However, Nairobi Water claimed that Mr Mwangi was to serve in an acting capacity as the reconnection/disconnection Supervisor for a maximum of six months and thereafter, it behoved him to revert to his substantive position of Revenue Collection Assistant, which he did.
It is Mwangi’s case that he was discriminated against on account of his disability. In this regard, he contends that following the Memo of 14th September 2009, his three colleagues were confirmed except him. He has attributed this fact to his disability.
