Devyan Food Industries Kenya Limited v Kanga (Appeal E053 of 2024) [2025] KEELRC 1872 (KLR)
The bottom line
#What this practically means
#Executive summary
#Key legal issues
#Lawfulness of the proclamation of attachment
Ground 1 fails; the proclamation signed on 1st November 2023 was within the limit of the warrants of attachment dated 23rd October 2023 and was therefore lawful.
The Trial Court perused the record and found that the decree issued on 10th October 2023, warrants were issued on 23rd October 2023, and the proclamation was signed on 1st November 2023, within the validity of the warrants. The Appellant had failed to honour the conditional stay orders of the E&LRC by not depositing the decretal sum, and there was nothing compelling the Auctioneers to make a fresh proclamation. The Court found the Trial Court addressed this issue correctly.
Statutory deductions from the decretal sum
Ground 2 succeeds; statutory deductions (including PAYE) are payable from the decretal sum notwithstanding the silence of the Trial Court ruling and the absence of express provision in the judgment.
The Trial Court was silent on the issue of statutory deductions, which had been specifically raised in the application dated 3rd June 2024, creating the impression that the Respondent was exempted from his statutory obligation to pay income tax. Relying on Section 19(1)(f) and Section 49(2) of the Employment Act, 2007 and Section 37 of the Income Tax Act, and on precedents of the Court of Appeal (Directline Assurance, Kioko Joseph, Andrew Mukite Saisi) followed by the E&LRC, the Court held that decretal awards are subject to statutory deductions which the employer is bound to effect and remit.
Precision of grounds of appeal
Grounds 3 and 4 of the Memorandum of Appeal were not particular and unsustainable.
An appeal must be founded on concise grounds. Generalised complaints that the Trial Court misapprehended facts or failed to consider extensive material are imprecise and do not meet the requirement that grounds of appeal be specific. The Court declined to engage with those grounds on that basis.
Legal principles established
#- Awards of the Court are subject to statutory deductions, notwithstanding that the judgment did not make express provision for payment of tax.
- Grounds of appeal must be specific and concise, not general.
- A proclamation signed within the limit of the warrants of attachment is lawful; there is no obligation on Auctioneers to make a fresh proclamation.
Court orders
#- 1.The Appeal is allowed on ground 2.
- 2.Statutory deductions are payable from the decretal sum in the Judgment of the Trial Court.
- 3.No order on costs of the appeal.
- On appeal from
- The Trial Court (court below not identified in the judgment)
- Jurisdiction invoked
- Appellate jurisdiction of the Employment and Labour Relations Court over the ruling of the Trial Court (leave to appeal out of time previously granted by the E&LRC; specific provision not cited)
Key timeline
#Practical implications
#Frequently asked questions
#Cite this brief
#Cite this brief
Caselaw, "Devyan Food Industries Kenya Limited v Kanga (Appeal E053 of 2024) [2025] KEELRC 1872 (KLR)", Case Analysis (2025). Not stated in the judgment. Source: https://new.kenyalaw.org/akn/ke/judgment/keelrc/2025/1872/eng@2025-06-27
Suggested citation format for research notes or client memos. Always verify the original judgment before relying on any point.