Eight former employees of the Water Resources Management Authority, a state corporation, have won a court case against their former employer.
In a ruling by Justice Stella Rutto at the Employment and Labour Relations Court in Nairobi, the state corporation was found guilty of wrongfully terminating the employment of the applicants.
Each of the employees was awarded three months' salaries including compensatory damages amounting to Ksh2.9 million.
The amount awarded was subject to the court rates from the day of the judgment until the payment was fully paid.
According to the court documents, the eight lost their jobs after the state corporation got a new manager in 2016. The employees complained that their termination was to pave the way to employ others who are related to the top officials in the management.
Per the court documents, those who were employed later had close relationships with the members of the state corporation's board.
Additionally, the eight who served in different positions emphasised that they carried out their duties as required before their termination which contravened the Employment Act.
"It is on account of the foregoing that each of the Claimants has sought an order of reinstatement, payment of salary and expenses for three months and in the alternative, compensatory damages," the court documents read in part.
Some of the employees noted that they had relocated from their previous residence after being offered the jobs only to be fired a few months later.
In the institution's defence, the Chief Human Resource officer argued that the applicants' employment was conducted in unclear circumstances as no documents could prove their recruitment.
The officer further revealed that the institution was unaware that some of the victims had to relocate to where they were stationed.
"He further denied the claims of nepotism and contended that no Board member has a relative as alleged and in case any has ever been recruited, it was done on merit following due procedure," read part of the court documents.
He also emphasised that the termination was lawful while asking the court to dismiss the case.
However, the court sided with the victims ruling that the termination was unfair and unlawful. The judge added that the government institution breached the applicant's legitimate expectation.
