Nehemiah Kiprop Kiplagat & 18 others v Radio Frequency Systems Limited & 2 others; Geoffrey Ng'ang'a Tambara(Intended Interested Party/Applicant) [2020] KEELRC 245 (KLR)
The bottom line
#Kenya's Employment Court refused to add a party to an employment case after judgment unless he could show he had a real stake in the outcome.
What this practically means
#Executive summary
#Key legal issues
#Whether the Intended Interested Party met the threshold for joinder as an interested party
He did not: he has no identifiable stake in the consent judgment or the pending contempt application, and will suffer no prejudice if not joined.
The suit had been determined by a consent judgment adopted on 2nd September 2019, under which Kshs.20,238,324 was transferred to the Claimants' advocates' accounts. The only issue pending was the Claimants' contempt application. The court found nothing in the intended interested party's application that would assist in determining that application, that the similarity of the suits gave him no relevance, and that his interests would be determined in ELRC Cause No. 737 of 2019.
Whether joinder is permissible after judgment where only contempt proceedings remain
Joinder was refused; the authorities relied on by the Applicant were distinguishable on their facts.
In Carol Silcock the judgment and decree bound the interested party, whereas here neither the proceedings nor the consent judgment affected the Applicant. In Elisha Kare Busienei the intended interested parties had an established interest in land, which was not shown here. The functus officio and finality objections were not resolved as the court rested its decision on absence of a demonstrable stake and prejudice.
Legal principles established
#- An interested party is one with a stake in the proceedings who will be affected by the court's decision either way
- Joinder of a party is warranted where the presence results in complete settlement of all questions, protects rights otherwise adversely affected, or prevents proliferated litigation
Court orders
#- 1.The application for joinder by the Applicant as an Interested Party is dismissed
- 2.Costs of the application awarded to the Claimants and Respondents
- Jurisdiction invoked
- Employment and Labour Relations Court Act and the ELRC (Procedure) Rules, 2016, particularly Rule 18(1); Article 159(2)(d) and Article 48 of the Constitution cited in the delivery-of-judgment order
Key timeline
#Practical implications
#Frequently asked questions
#Later judgments citing this (2)
#Judgments in the corpus that rely on this one. Where the Court said how it treated the authority, that is shown.
- Geoffrey Nganga Tambara v Radio Frequency Systems Ltd, Simon Horner & Micheal John Mwaura [2020] KEELRC 223 (KLR)[2020] KEELRC 223 (KLR)18 Nov 2020applied
- Geoffrey Nganga Tambara v Radio Frequency Systems Ltd & 2 others [2020] KEELRC 978 (KLR)[2020] KEELRC 978 (KLR)5 Jun 2020
Cite this brief
#Cite this brief
Caselaw, "Nehemiah Kiprop Kiplagat & 18 others v Radio Frequency Systems Limited & 2 others; Geoffrey Ng'ang'a Tambara(Intended Interested Party/Applicant) [2020] KEELRC 245 (KLR)", Case Analysis (2020). Cause No. 567 of 2019 (Chamber Summons dated 27th January 2020). Source: https://new.kenyalaw.org/akn/ke/judgment/keelrc/2020/245/eng@2020-11-13
Suggested citation format for research notes or client memos. Always verify the original judgment before relying on any point.