Charles Chunge v Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology [2021] KEELRC 2026 (KLR)
The bottom line
#Kenya's Employment Court confirmed that a job offer letter mistakenly calling someone 'Professor' does not make them one without the required qualifications.
What this practically means
#Executive summary
#Key legal issues
#Whether the Claimant was simultaneously appointed to a professorship when offered the position of Executive Dean
No. The advertisement conditioned simultaneous appointment as professor on the candidate qualifying to be appointed as such, and the Claimant did not satisfy the qualifications in 2015.
The advertisement expressly provided that the Executive Dean would be simultaneously appointed professor only if qualified. The criteria used to evaluate the Claimant mirrored the Commission for University Education's Harmonised Criteria of 27 October 2014. An Ad Hoc Committee established he qualified only as Senior Lecturer under the old criteria and not as Associate Professor under the new criteria. The Claimant laid no evidential foundation on the qualifications required for professorship in 2015.
Whether the University's correction of the offer letter constituted unilateral alteration of the contract of employment
No. The use of the term professor in the offer letter was an error that was rightly corrected; there was no unfair, unlawful, arbitrary or unilateral alteration.
The offer letter's reference to the Claimant as professor was erroneous because he had been interviewed for Executive Dean, not a professorship, and had not demonstrated the minimum qualifications for a professorship. Correcting an error in a letter does not amount to altering terms of employment where the employee never qualified for the office in the first place.
Legal principles established
#- A reference in an offer letter to an office (here, professor) cannot bestow the office on a candidate who does not possess the requisite qualifications; the position of professor is an appointive academic office with minimum standards which the candidate must satisfy.
- The burden is on an employee claiming contractual entitlement to prove to the required standard that he possessed the qualifications for the office at the material time.
Court orders
#- 1.The Cause is dismissed with costs to the Respondent
- Jurisdiction invoked
- Employment and Labour Relations Court jurisdiction over a statement of claim (Cause) concerning breach of contract of employment and unfair labour practices
Key timeline
#Practical implications
#Frequently asked questions
#Cite this brief
#Cite this brief
Caselaw, "Charles Chunge v Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology [2021] KEELRC 2026 (KLR)", Case Analysis (2021). Cause (number not stated in judgment; filed 4 July 2017). Source: https://new.kenyalaw.org/akn/ke/judgment/keelrc/2021/2026/eng@2021-03-10
Suggested citation format for research notes or client memos. Always verify the original judgment before relying on any point.