Mutunga v African Express Airways Limited (Employment and Labour Relations Cause E121 of 2024) [2025] KEELRC 951 (KLR)
The bottom line
#What this practically means
#Executive summary
#Key legal issues
#Limitation under section 89 of the Employment Act applied to enforcement of a Director's award
The suit to enforce the award rendered on 1st December 2016, filed on 22nd February 2024, was filed outside the three-year period and is statute barred.
Section 89 of the Employment Act excludes the Limitation of Actions Act for claims arising from a contract of service and requires such claims to be filed within three years. The claim sought enforcement of the Director's award, so the cause of action accrued when the award crystallised on 1st December 2016, not on the date of the accident. Filed on 22nd February 2024, the suit was over seven years late and could not be entertained.
The court rejected the Claimant's contention that a suit for declaratory orders falls outside section 89, finding no basis advanced for it.
Counsel for the Claimant argued that because the suit sought declaratory orders it was not governed by section 89 of the Employment Act, but offered no legal basis for that proposition. The court gave it no weight. The Claimant's cited authority, Joash Shisia Cheto v Thepot Patrick Charles, did not consider limitation and was therefore irrelevant to the preliminary objection.
Legal principles established
#- A claim to enforce a Director's award under the Work Injury Benefits Act arises from a contract of service and must be filed within three years of the award under section 89 of the Employment Act; there is no legal provision extending that time.
- Limitation of actions is a jurisdictional question which the court may raise suo moto even where not framed that way by a party.
Court orders
#- 1.The suit is struck out
- 2.Costs to the Respondent
- Jurisdiction invoked
- Employment and Labour Relations Court jurisdiction over employment and labour relations claims; suit governed by section 89 of the Employment Act
Key timeline
#Practical implications
#Frequently asked questions
#Cite this brief
#Cite this brief
Caselaw, "Mutunga v African Express Airways Limited (Employment and Labour Relations Cause E121 of 2024) [2025] KEELRC 951 (KLR)", Case Analysis (2025). . Source: https://new.kenyalaw.org/akn/ke/judgment/keelrc/2025/951/eng@2025-03-27
Suggested citation format for research notes or client memos. Always verify the original judgment before relying on any point.