Court orders Safaricom to pay ex-staff 7.2m for unfair dismissal.

The employment and labor relations court awarded two former Safaricom executives 7.2 million shillings for unfair dismissal.
Judge James Rika said the dismissal of Charles Muema Munuve and Mary Rono was unfair and unjustified.

Accordingly, the judge ordered Safaricom to pay Mr Munuve Sh2.98 million and Ms Rono Sh4.22 million equivalent to the total salary of eight and seven months to be administered, as compensation for unfair dismissal.

Mr Munuve and Ms Rono, who were responsible for the sale of land on the North Coast and the Rift Valley respectively, were both fired on June 28, 2018.

At the time of dismissal, Mr Munuve was earning Sh 331,000 while his colleague had been promoted to Senior Director of Marketing Operations with a total of Sh 528,000.

Applicants were suspended for two common reasons – that they failed to meet the requirements to ensure proper distribution, accounting, activation and monitoring of communication equipment.

They were also accused of failing to ensure that the company’s assets were used for their intended purpose, which resulted in equipment being used in competing networks.

However, the two have denied the allegations. The dispute arose after the company bought 90,000 Huawei Y 311 equipment for 544.5 million shillings for free distribution to retailers, agents and shops through the region’s sales managers.

Safaricom said officers failed to provide satisfactory explanations and were therefore subject to disciplinary action and found guilty. Judge Rika said the plaintiffs had worked for 15 and 13 years under the supervision and had exemplary records with the company.

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