By Salim Mutuma
The Employment and Labour Relations Court in Nairobi has ordered Nyeri Governor Mutahi Kahiga to pay former Deputy Governor Caroline Karugu Sh8 million in salary arrears that had been withheld for 13 months.
Ms Karugu moved to court in September 2021 seeking the withheld pay and allowances saying the last time she received her salary was in November 2019 and several allowances were last paid a year earlier.
The county government had told the court that it stopped paying Ms Karugu for absconding duty but admitted that it did not notify her before it resolved to stop paying her.
The payments, the county submitted in court, were stopped after 2020/21 staff analysis report showed that the applicant could not be accounted because she had not been reporting to work.
Through lawyer Harrison Kinyanjui, the DG had besides claiming a refund of Sh442, 107 in fuel expenses, also sought house allowance on grounds that she was not housed and did not receive any stipend.
But the devolved unit rejected the application saying the trips whose allowances Ms Karugu was claiming had nothing to do with the county.
Ms Karugu had also accused the county of failure to renew her aide’s contract since 2019, locking her office for entire year 2020 and moving her office staff to other departments.
Justice Maureen Onyango found the conduct of the county government unlawful saying it had violated the Fair Administrative Actions Act, which demands fairness when taking disciplinary action against employees.
The county government, the court said, should have provided a prior notice before stopping salary payment and consequently given Ms Karugu an opportunity to be heard and the right to appeal.
The Judge ordered the devolved government to pay the outstanding salaries from June last year to August this year.
The court however declined to award Ms Karugu her allowances, for not demonstrating that she was entitled to them.
