The Labour Court in Nyeri has ordered the Ministry of Defence to pay former Kenya Defence Forces(KDF) Major Peter Mugure Ksh 2 million who was sacked over allegations of allowing his wife Joyce Syombua and their two children at the Laikipia Air base.
Mugure was sacked from the force in 2020 by his employer after he accommodated his wife and two children (now deceased) at the air base allegedly without the permission of the Base Commander on October 25 and 26, 2019.
Courts ruling
According to the court, the sacking of Mugure was unfair, unlawful and unconstitutional as it was done in breach of express provisions of the law, the constitution and the rules of natural justice.
In his judgement, Justice Onesmus Makau of the Employment and Labour Relations court awarded Mugure the damages after he found that the Ministry of Defence and the Attorney General violated the KDF’s officer constitutional rights to fair administrative action as envisioned under Article 47 of the constitution while exercising their administrative powers in dismissing him from the force.
Makua noted that the termination of Mugure’s employment did not meet the legal threshold set out in the constitution and sections 4 of the FAA Act and Section 251 of the KDF Act.
” The petitioner (Mugure) prayed for an award of damages for violation of his constitutional rights. I awarded him Sh 2 million for the procedure violation during the termination of his commission,” Justice Makau ordered.
The judge has also ordered the Ministry of Defence to pay Mugure all his terminal benefits including pension in accordance with the applicable law and regulations.
Compensate Mugure
Further, the court ordered the government to compensate Mugure for the work injuries suffered in 2010 during his service as a KDF officer pursuant to the applicable KDF Act and regulations.
The decision by the court comes after Mugure who is facing trial for the murders of his wife Joyce Syombua and two children in a different court, sought the damages saying he was fired unlawfully following his arraignment over the murder.
Mugure who is currently remanded at King’ong’o Maximum Prison Nyeri county argued that his salary was stopped on May 13, 2020, after he appeared before Nanyuki court and he was later subjected to a disciplinary hearing before the Laikipia base commander.
In the hearing, which he said was barely a trial but a conviction that lasted 10 minutes, he was charged with disobeying the KDF Act of 2012 by entertaining guests in the residential section of the Lakipia air base without the permission of the Base Commander.
The Disciplinary committee also accused him of inviting and accommodating his wife Syombu and her two children at the KDF’s mess room without permission and interfering with the booking register.
Mugure contended that the Defence Council Committee’s decision to terminate his commission was arrived at unfairly as he was not accorded an opportunity to be heard before the final decision was made.
In response to the case, the Ministry and the Attorney General argued that there was a valid reason for the termination of the Commission because Mugure had already been found guilty of violating standing orders during the disciplinary proceedings under section 155 of the KDF Act to allow civilian guests in his officer’s mess at the Laikipia Airbase.
In his decision, the judge noted that the evidence that was adduced in court revealed that Mugure had written a resignation letter on November 14, 2019, even before he was charged before his base commander for summary trial over allowing his family to the air base residential area.
“It is clear that the resignation letter was transmitted to the Defence Council through the chain of command. The base commander endorsed in his award that Mugure had written the resignation letter with a request for payment of services benefits, but the Base Commander recommended termination of his commission, ” the judge said.
Mugure’s violation
He also observed that on the same date, the service commander wrote to the Chief of Defense Forces reporting that Mugure had, by his conduct, violated the trust placed upon him as a commissioned officer by violating Base Standing Orders.
Finally, the commander also recommended the resignation of Mugure be rejected and his intended commission be terminated.
Later, the same day the Secretary to the Defence Council who was the former Defence PS Ibrahim Muhamed circulated the information to the Defence Council to approve the termination of the Mugure as recommended by the service commander.
The judge noted that all the council members unanimously approved the recommendation between November 18 and 25, 2019 but the decision was not communicated to Mugure until May 13, 2020.
The letter tabled in court signed by PS Muhamed showed that he okayed the termination of Mugure employment as a KDF officer without any benefits.
The judge concurred with Mugure that from the letter send to him by PS Muhamed communicating the final decision on his dismissal from the force, it is clear that the Defence Council never served the officer with any prior notice to the proposed terminating of his commission and the reason for the same.
Justice Makau further stated the Council never accorded the officer an opportunity to be heard and make his representations before he was fired.
” Based on the foregoing observations, the court is satisfied that the Ministry of Defense violated Mugure’s right to fair administrative action by failure to communicate the decision on his resignation letter, and in terminating his commission without prior notification as required under section 4(3)(a) and (b) of the FAA Act, ” Justice Makau ruled.
The court decision comes even when Mugure is currently in custody awaiting the hearing and determination of his murder case following his arraignment in court on November 18, 2019, for allegedly killing his wife Syombua, and their two children.
Mugure was charged after the three went missing days after visited him at his Nanyuki Barracks home on October 26, 2019
According to investigations by police, the three bodies were exhumed from a shallow grave at the Makaburini area in Nanyuki Town on November 17, 2019, and taken to Nanyuki Teaching and Referral Hospital mortuary.
