Tatu City Limited’s board of directors has been ordered by the court to pay their former CEO Ksh27.5 million for wrongful sacking.
Then Tatu City CEO Lucas Akungu Omariba was sacked in February 2015 over alleged gross insubordination to the board of directors, absenteeism, and breach of confidentiality and the duty of fidelity.
The court ruled that the firm’s board of directors dismissed then Tatu City CEO Lucas Akungu Omariba irregularly and failed to provide a reason for the sacking.
In his ruling, the Employment and Labour Relations Court’s Justice Onesmus Makau, ruled against Tatu City Limited’s board while stating that Sections 43 and 45 of the Employment Act require an employer to prove the reason(s) for termination of employment.
Christopher John Barron from Rendeavour Limited, the controlling shareholder of Tatu City, testified that the CEO was asked for information by Rendeavour but refused to give the information, which amounted to insubordination, and consequently, he was dismissed.
He further testified that the CEO made negative comments towards Rendeavour’s directors and staff. However, he admitted that the termination letter did not cite any reasons for the sacking.
At the time of the dismissal of the CEO, Barron was the Tatu City operations manager reporting to the CEO.
Rendeavour Chief executive officer with company’s COO Christopher Baron at Milimani Law courts on August 12, 2016.
Christopher Baron told the court that because of the friction among the directors, it was difficult to conduct a meaningful disciplinary hearing on the allegations against then Tatu City CEO Lucas Akungu Omariba.
In its counter-claim in court, Tatu City Limited alleged that after being sacked Omariba retained company property, including electronic information, correspondence, and documents and had refused to return them despite demand.
The company further contended that following the termination, he deliberately contravened the confidentiality of his employment contract by divulging and sharing sensitive information about the firm with third parties.
It sought orders for the return of property owed to it, including all electronic information, correspondence, and documents relating to the company contained in his laptop unconditionally.
The property includes two mobile phones, iPhone 5s and Apple iPhone 5c. The company urged the court to alternatively order he pays a sum of money equivalent to the replacement costs. The company also sought a permanent injunction restraining Mr Omariba from breaching the confidentiality clause.
Then Tatu City CEO Lucas Akungu Omariba did not respond to the counter-claims brought before the court by his former boss.
However, Employment and Labour Relations Court’s Justice Onesmus Makau declined to issue the injunction because the company did not demonstrate the information at stake and the risk to its business.
Justice Makau said the company did not plead with precision while declining to order the return of the property described by the company as “electronic information, correspondence and documents”.
Justice Onesmus Makau also directed then Tatu City CEO Lucas Akungu to return the handsets or instead pay the company half the purchase price of both iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c as the replacement cost because he had used the devices for the business of the company.
Blogger Cyprian Nyakundi
This blow to corrupt heads at the Tatu City Limited comes at a time the company had exhausted their theatrics of using the DCI to issue death threats.
Blogger Nyakundi has in the past complained of being trailed by unknown persons during the peak of Tatu City wrangles. The death plot of Lawyer Ahmednassir Abdullahi coincides with Nyakundi’s threats.
Take for instance, in 2017, blogger Cyprian Nyakundi who’s also entangled in the Tatu City troubles(click on the links on each topic) and has a defamation case alongside Ahmednasir and Stephen Jennings filed by Nyagah and Vimal, received death threats in what looks like a coordinated effort.
Blogger Cyprian Nyakundi has been visibly vocal in highlighting the Tatu City squabbles on his viral social media handles a case that has put him in hot waters.
During his last arrest of the many, while being held at Central Police, Blogger Nyakundi was given a surprise visit at around 2 am, which is unusual, by unidentified men he suspected to be CIDs.
“They warned me against speaking ever again on BIDCO, Vimal, and Tatu City and promised deer consequences should I despise the warnings and continue writing about the same subjects. ” The blogger shared on his, previously verified-now suspended Twitter account.
Would you like to get published on this Popular Blog? You can now email Cyprian Nyakundi any breaking news, Exposes, story ideas, human interest articles or interesting videos on: hello@cnyakundi.com. Videos and pictures can be sent to +254 710 280 973 on WhatsApp, Signal and Telegram.
