Mulinge v Cooperative Bank of Kenya Limited (Employment and Labour Relations Cause E200 of 2022) [2023] KEELRC 847 (KLR)
The bottom line
#Kenya's Employment Court can protect dismissed employees from sudden bank loan rate increases, and it stopped Co-operative Bank from raising this ex-employee's rates for now.
What this practically means
#Executive summary
#Key legal issues
#Jurisdiction of the ELRC over loan interest dispute
The Court has jurisdiction because the loan facilities were inextricably tied to the Claimant's employment contract
The Respondent argued the dispute was a private contractual one for the commercial court. The court relied on Article 162(2)(a) and Section 12(1) of the ELRC Act, and followed Abraham Nyambane Asiago v Barclays Bank, holding that rights and obligations generated by the employment relationship, even if not found in the express contract, fall under employment and labour relations, avoiding multiplicity of suits across courts.
Whether interlocutory injunction ought to issue
Injunction granted; the Claimant established a prima facie case, irreparable harm and balance of convenience
The Claimant challenged his summary dismissal, upon which the Respondent sought to vary the loan interest rates. The Respondent had not yet filed its Response, and under the Staff Manual the Claimant could, subject to conditions, qualify for continued preferential rates given his over ten years of service. Conversion to commercial rates would expose him to default and potential loss of the security property, an irredeemable harm, and the balance of convenience favoured maintaining the status quo.
Allegation of vexatious litigation
The filing of two previous suits, one withdrawn, did not establish the Claimant as a vexatious litigant
The Respondent's Head of Legal Services described the Claimant as a vexatious litigator and forum shopper, citing a prior petition and a claimant/respondent matter. The Claimant explained the petition was filed to avert dismissal and the later suit was filed in error and withdrawn. The court found this inelegant but not a basis for banishing a party as a vexatious litigant.
Legal principles established
#- Jurisdiction over employee loan facilities granted under terms tied to the employment contract resides in the ELRC, as such disputes are inextricably tied to employment
- The conditions for an interlocutory injunction are prima facie case, irreparable injury and balance of convenience, applied as sequential hurdles
Court orders
#- 1.An order of injunction restraining the Respondent from varying the interest applicable to the Claimant's loan facilities from staff rates to commercial rates, pending the hearing and determination of the main claim
- 2.That the Claimant shall continue servicing the loan facilities at applicable staff rates pending the hearing and determination of the claim
- 3.Costs of the application to be in the cause
- Jurisdiction invoked
- Article 162(2)(a) of the Constitution; Section 12(1) of the Employment and Labour Relations Court 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.
- Zamzam v Gulf African Bank Limited (Cause E006 of 2022) [2025] KEELRC 165 (KLR)[2025] KEELRC 165 (KLR)30 Jan 2025
Cite this brief
#Cite this brief
Caselaw, "Mulinge v Cooperative Bank of Kenya Limited (Employment and Labour Relations Cause E200 of 2022) [2023] KEELRC 847 (KLR)", Case Analysis (2023). (Nairobi ELRC Cause; Claimant's Notice of Motion dated March 2, 2022). Source: https://new.kenyalaw.org/akn/ke/judgment/keelrc/2023/847/eng@2023-04-13
Suggested citation format for research notes or client memos. Always verify the original judgment before relying on any point.