Alfonso Katheka Munyali & another v Council of the Kenya School of Government & 3 others [2016] KEELRC 930 (KLR)
The bottom line
#Kenya's Employment Court in Mombasa refused to jail Kenya School of Government officials for contempt, finding they obeyed the court order as written.
What this practically means
#Executive summary
#Key legal issues
#Ambiguity of the conservatory order dated 31.7.2015
The order was clear and unambiguous; it preserved the claimants' status as Campus Directors with the salaries they were drawing before the order, not KSG Scale 2 benefits.
The court perused the order as made and as extracted and served. It found the order preserved the claimants' position as Campus Directors pending trial. The phrase 'full benefits' referred to the salaries already being drawn, not new benefits under KSG Scale 2, which was never sought in the application for conservatory orders and forms the substratum of the suit to be determined at trial.
Whether the cited respondents were in contempt
No contempt was established; the respondents complied with the order as sought and granted, and the claimants were not entitled to enforce KSG Scale 2 benefits at the interlocutory stage.
The respondents demonstrated compliance through correspondences and payslips showing the claimants continued discharging directorial duties and drawing their pre-order salaries. The claim for KSG Scale 2 salary was never sought in the conservatory application and must await trial. Allegations of benefits to the 3rd and 4th respondents, failure to allocate vehicles and recruitment of deputies were new matters involving strangers to the suit on whom the court declined to comment without hearing them.
Legal principles established
#- A party seeking committal for contempt must show deliberate disobedience of a clear and unambiguous court order; where the order merely preserves the status quo and the respondents comply with it as granted, contempt is not made out.
Court orders
#- 1.Notice of Motion dated 20.4.2016 dismissed
- 2.Costs to the respondents
- Jurisdiction invoked
- Original employment and labour relations jurisdiction; contempt of court orders issued by this court
Key timeline
#Practical implications
#Frequently asked questions
#Cite this brief
#Cite this brief
Caselaw, "Alfonso Katheka Munyali & another v Council of the Kenya School of Government & 3 others [2016] KEELRC 930 (KLR)", Case Analysis (2016). Notice of Motion dated 20.4.2016 (in the main suit). Source: https://new.kenyalaw.org/akn/ke/judgment/keelrc/2016/930/eng@2016-07-15
Suggested citation format for research notes or client memos. Always verify the original judgment before relying on any point.