West Kenya Sugar Company Limited v Keiza (Employment and Labour Relations Appeal E009 of 2021) [2023] KEELRC 322 (KLR)
The bottom line
#Kenyan courts cannot hear work injury claims filed after 2008; those must go to the Director of Occupational Safety and Health Services under WIBA.
What this practically means
#Executive summary
#Key legal issues
#Whether the magistrate misapprehended the law in holding she had no jurisdiction but no power to strike out the suit
The magistrate correctly downed tools for lack of jurisdiction over a post-WIBA work injury claim, but erred in law in failing to strike out the suit; once jurisdiction is absent the suit cannot stand and must be struck out.
The trial magistrate had found she had no jurisdiction following the Supreme Court decision in Law Society of Kenya v Attorney General, yet declined to strike out the suit, leaving the parties in limbo. The court, relying on Owners of the Motor Vessel Lilian 'S' and Mini Bakeries, held that without jurisdiction a court cannot make one more step, and a suit filed in a court without jurisdiction is incompetent and its only fate is to be struck off. The appeal was therefore merited.
Scope of the legitimate expectation exception recognised in Law Society of Kenya v Attorney General (SC Pet No 4 of 2019)
The legitimate expectation recognised by the Court of Appeal and upheld by the Supreme Court applies only to litigation pending before courts prior to WIBA's entry into force (June 2, 2008), commenced under the Workmen's Compensation Act or common law; all post-WIBA claims fall under section 52 of WIBA before the Director.
The court traced the Court of Appeal judgment in Attorney General v Law Society of Kenya and the Supreme Court's paragraph 85, holding that legitimate expectation attaches only to pending cases filed pre-WIBA. The magistrate's view that the Supreme Court decision had a 'gap' for post-WIBA filings was misplaced, and the contrary holding in West Kenya Sugar v Tito Lucheli Tangale was inconsistent with the binding Supreme Court decision.
Legal principles established
#- Magistrates' courts lack jurisdiction to hear and determine work injury claims filed after the commencement of WIBA; such claims lie before the Director of Occupational Safety and Health Services, save for litigation pending before courts prior to WIBA's entry into force which is protected by legitimate expectation.
- Jurisdiction is not a procedural technicality; without jurisdiction a court cannot take any further step.
- A suit filed before a court without jurisdiction is incompetent and must be struck out, not transferred.
Court orders
#- 1.The appeal is allowed
- 2.The ruling of the trial court delivered on October 26, 2020 and the decree dated November 21, 2022 are set aside and substituted with an order that the preliminary objection dated March 18, 2020/2021 is upheld
- 3.The suit dated August 14, 2017 (Butali SPMCC No 202 of 2017) is struck out for want of jurisdiction
- 4.Each party to bear their own costs both in the appeal and in the trial magistrate's court
- 5.The judgment to apply in the determination of Bungoma ELRC appeals E011 of 2021 (West Kenya Sugar Co Ltd v Wycliffe Mbote Kipanga) and E010 of 2021 (West Kenya Sugar Co Ltd v Sostine Salamba Milimo)
- On appeal from
- Principal Magistrate's Court, Butali
- Butali SPMCC No 202 of 2017
- Jurisdiction invoked
- Appeal from the subordinate court under the Employment and Labour Relations Court jurisdiction over work injury claims under the Work Injury Benefits Act
Key timeline
#Practical implications
#Frequently asked questions
#Later judgments citing this (1)
#Judgments in the corpus that rely on this one. Where the Court said how it treated the authority, that is shown.
- Mutimba v Nandenu & 2 others (Employment and Labour Relations Cause E003 of 2026) [2026] KEMC 601 (KLR)[2026] KEMC 601 (KLR)7 Apr 2026applied
Cite this brief
#Cite this brief
Caselaw, "West Kenya Sugar Company Limited v Keiza (Employment and Labour Relations Appeal E009 of 2021) [2023] KEELRC 322 (KLR)", Case Analysis (2023). Bungoma ELRC Appeal E004 of 2021 (arising from Butali SPMCC No 202 of 2017). Source: https://new.kenyalaw.org/akn/ke/judgment/keelrc/2023/322/eng@2023-02-09
Suggested citation format for research notes or client memos. Always verify the original judgment before relying on any point.