Ex-Nyeri DG Karugu To Receive Sh8 Million in Salary Arrears

Former Nyeri County deputy governor Dr Caroline Karugu has cause to rejoice after receiving Sh8 million in salary arrears from a Nairobi court.

Judge Maureen Onyango of the Employment and Labour Relations Court concluded that the county government’s actions were unlawful and that an employer cannot stop paying salary without completing the proper legal procedures.

The devolved unit was required by section four and section six of the Fair Administrative Actions Act to be fair while enforcing disciplinary measures against its employees, and this was not the case, the court found.

“As per the Fair Administrative Actions Act, failure to furnish its employee with the reasons and proof taken for disciplinary action, the law presumes that the action taken was without good reason,” the judge said.

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The county told the court that it did not let the complainant know that it was stopping pay.

“The county government has not tendered any evidence that any kind of disciplinary hearing or process took place regarding its claim that the applicants had absconded from duty,” said the judge.

In its defense, the county said that it discontinued the payments after discovering that the applicant could not be located because she had not been reporting to work.

The discovery was made after a routine staff-return report prepared at the conclusion of the 2020–2021 fiscal year.

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In its ruling, the court overturned the executive committee of the Nyeri county government’s finding that Dr Karugu had missed Cabinet meetings.

“From my reading of Section 41 of the County Government Act, there is no provision or requirement of the attendance of a Deputy Governor for meetings to be held and resolutions passed. The quorum of a County Executive Meeting constitutes half of the members being present. A resolution may pass by a majority of the members present,” stated justice Onyango.

The court ordered the devolved unit to pay Dr Karugu up to Sh8 million in salary arrears.

“I have already found that the Respondent’s withholding of the Claimant’s salary was unfair and consequently award the Claimant her full salary from June 2021 to date being Sh8,076,250 which totals Sh621,250 per months for 13 months,” she said.

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The claimant, however, did not provide any documentation to support her claim to allowances, thus the Court refrained to issue any orders.

Karugu had requested a reimbursement for the Sh442,107 in petrol costs she incurred while performing her duties. She also requested a house allowance, claiming that even though she kept up her community work, she was neither housed nor received a stipend.

Dr Karugu had filed a lawsuit against the County Secretary Benjamin Gachichio and Governor Mutahi Kahiga for withholding her salary without a justifiable reason. The former DG claimed, through lawyer Harrison Kinyanjui, that her most recent paycheck was received in November 2019.

Dr Karugu requested in her application submitted in September of last year that the court order her employer to return the more than Sh15 million in salary that has been withheld since November 2019.

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Along with her monthly income of Sh685,250 that had been withheld, she had said that she had been denied a phone and entertainment allowance that she had last received in November 2018.

In addition, Dr Karugu claimed that the county had moved her personnel to other departments from 2019, failed to renew the contract for her personal assistant, and locked her office until 2020.

She stated that she paid guards to protect her at a cost of Sh15,000 per month.