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ELRCDismissed· [2024] KEELRC 749 (KLR)

Sigei v Kenya Pipeline Company Limited (Employment and Labour Relations Petition E030 of 2022) [2024] KEELRC 749 (KLR)

Employment and Labour Relations Court
20 March 2024
MNMathews Nderi Nduma
2,100 words in judgment
View original judgmentRead on Kenya Law Watch case
AI-assisted case brief
·~8 min to read original · ~4 min brief

The bottom line

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The Employment and Labour Relations Court dismissed a public servant's bid to stop her retirement, ruling she failed to prove her date of birth or disability registration.

What this practically means

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Executive summary

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The petitioner, appointed as subordinate staff in 1997 with a stated date of birth of 1962, sought to quash the respondent's letter of 10 January 2022 notifying her mandatory retirement at 60 with effect from 29 March 2022. She relied on a birth certificate, passport, national identity card and affidavit reflecting a corrected date of birth of 29 December 1968, and sought to work until age 60 or be paid dues up to that age. She later amended the petition by consent to claim entitlement to retire at 65 as a person living with disability. The respondent opposed, producing employment records, the original identity card, and contradictory school records showing she could not have been born in 1968, and alleging the change of birth date was fraudulent and aimed at extending retirement. The Department of Civil Registration had confirmed 1962 as her year of birth. The court framed three issues: proof of date of birth, entitlement to reliefs, and entitlement to retire at 65 as a person with disability. It found the petitioner's contradictory accounts depicted her as 'wholly economical with the truth' and concluded she was born in 1962, applying Abdinoor Sheikh Takoy mutatis mutandis. On disability, it held section 70 of the PSC Regulations, 2020 was not satisfied since the petitioner registered as a person with disability only after the retirement notice, applying Amiga. The petition was dismissed in its entirety with each party bearing its own costs, in consideration of the long working relationship.

Key legal issues

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01

Proof of date of birth for retirement purposes

Holding

The petitioner failed to prove on a balance of probability that she was born in 1968 rather than 1962; contradictory explanations and school records undermined her claim

Reasoning

The court found the petitioner gave contradictory accounts of when and where she attended primary school, and gave inconsistent reasons for the discrepancy in her identity card. The Department of Civil Registration had also confirmed 1962. The court concluded she was not a credible witness and held the employer justified in relying on the original employment records.

p. 4
02

Retirement at 65 as a person with disability

Holding

The petitioner did not qualify under section 70 of the PSC Regulations, 2020, as she only sought registration as a person with disability after receiving the retirement notice and was not in the employer's database three years before retirement

Reasoning

Section 70 requires a permanent disability with substantial impact and registration in the employer's human resource database at least three years before retirement. The petitioner first disclosed any disability on 17/2/2022, after the retirement notice, and began registration only on 10/1/2023. The court applied Amiga mutatis mutandis, finding nothing in the employer's records recorded her as a person with disability.

p. 5

Legal principles established

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  • A public officer must be registered in the public body's human resource database as a person with disability at least three years before the retirement date to qualify for retirement at 65 under section 70 of the PSC Regulations, 2020
  • An employer is justified in disregarding late documentation altering an employee's date of birth where the employee has not discharged the burden of proving the records of employment wrong

Court orders

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  1. 1.The petition is dismissed in its entirety
  2. 2.Each party to bear their own costs of the suit

Authorities

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Legislation

  • Public Service Commission (PSC) Regulations, 2020Section 70

Cases cited (2)

  • Abdinoor Sheikh Takoy v Kenya National Highways Authority
    [2020] eKLR
  • Amiga v Cabinet Secretary Ministry of Education Science and Technology and 2 others
    [petition – E020 of 2022 [2023] KEELRC 32 9KLR) (19th January 2023)
Jurisdiction invoked
Constitutional petition as framed; the judgment does not expressly cite the jurisdictional provision

Key timeline

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Practical implications

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Frequently asked questions

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Cite this brief

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Cite this brief

Caselaw, "Sigei v Kenya Pipeline Company Limited (Employment and Labour Relations Petition E030 of 2022) [2024] KEELRC 749 (KLR)", Case Analysis (2024). . Source: https://new.kenyalaw.org/akn/ke/judgment/keelrc/2024/749/eng@2024-03-20

Suggested citation format for research notes or client memos. Always verify the original judgment before relying on any point.