Labour Relations Court has awarded a former employee of Nairobi Hospital Sh1.3 million as a compensation for wrongful dismissal.
Anne Karoki who worked as the acting head of procurement and stores department was fired after over a security cameras tender allegedly issued to the wrong bidder.
But Justice Mathews Nduma found that she was sacked before her case was heard. The judge also found that Ms Karoki was not given a chance to defend herself over the CCTV tender that was erroneously awarded to Servtel Communications.
The court dismissed evidence presented by Maurice Mayende, the facility’s human resource officer, over a disciplinary hearing held on March 1, 2018.
“Maurice tendered false evidence before the court of an alleged disciplinary hearing, which he did not attend and allegedly took place on March 1, 2018, the date Ms Karoki received the letter of termination…the court finds that the evidence by Maurice is false and is incapable of belief,” Justice Nduma said.
The hospital sacked Ms Karoki in February 2018 for making a mistake when awarding a tender for the installation of 19 new CCTV cameras at a cost of Sh1.6 million.
The tender was to be awarded to Icom Technologies, who presented the lowest quotation but was instead awarded to Servtel Communications.
In her response, Ms Karoki stated that on December 18, 2017, one Stephen Gichohi from the office of the chief security officer rushed into her office and forced her sign three documents that the security officer urgently needed.
The documents included a purchase request, purchase order and justification, and budget approval.
Ms Karoki added that she was unaware that the order was placed with Servtel Communications Limited rather than Icom Technologies, which had won the tender to provide the cameras.
She only learnt of the inaccuracy when she was told about “the honest mistake” as a result of the rush in which the documents were needed.
On February 26, 2018, Ms Karoki received a note inviting her to a disciplinary hearing on February 28, 2018 but no hearing was held when she went.
She was handed a letter terminating her work two days later and all her efforts to present her complaint to Nairobi Hospital’s chief executive were futile.
She told the court that her dismissal was motivated by malice because the other three signatories to the purchase orders she signed were not fired or penalized in any manner.
