Mwangangi v Kikima Farmers Cooperative Society Limited (Cause 1992 of 2015) [2023] KEELRC 3081 (KLR)

The court examined each of the five reasons in the termination letter individually. Lack of transparency failed because financial reports were the Treasurer's responsibility under by-law 43; the certificates ground failed because the Claimant complied and the demand was unreasonable after 32 years; the promotion ground failed because records custody is the employer's duty under Section 74; the AGM resolutions ground was ambiguous; and 'public demand' was unsupported by any evidence.

The Respondent's own witnesses conceded no show-cause letter was exhibited and the former Chairman could not produce a disciplinary hearing record, claiming the file was too bulky. The court held procedural fairness was discarded from the outset and the minimum statutory standards of fairness were not met.

The Respondent's witnesses offered no documentary support; the State Department of Cooperatives' Inquiry Report of November 2017 found no misappropriation and no due process in dismissals; the Claimant was never sued or criminally charged; and the Board itself resolved in June 2015 that suit would issue only if misappropriation was proved, which proof was never shown.

Service pay was limited to 1983-2007 because the Claimant was subscribed to N.S.S.F. thereafter under the Employment Act 2007 regime, but his long pre-Act service merited recognition. Notice pay was capped at the statutory month absent a contractual clause. Compensation was set at the maximum 12 months given his 32 years of diligent service and no contribution to the termination. The annual leave claim was too jumbled to sustain.