Eva Nyambura
Pastor James Ng’ang’a of Neno Evangelism Centre has been ordered by court to compensate a former employee over unfair dismissal.
Christopher Kinama, a church caretaker, was sacked by the man of the cloth over an alleged car park fees collection dispute.
The former employee who was fired in 2017 sued the church which responded via the pastor.
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Labour court’s Justice Maureen Onyango dismissed Ng’ang’a’s reason for firing Kinama and instead awarded him a Sh300,000 pay for wrongful termination.
In her ruling, Justice Onyango said that the church did not give the complainant a chance to explain himself.
She also noted that while the church had written to the complainant giving him a second chance, the letter was dated November 18, 2016, but the employee was fired on January 25, 2017.
“With utmost respect to Apostle James Ng’ang’a, the author of the said letter, I am not convinced that it was humanly possible for him to predict that such events would take place and write the letter in advance. I have carefully perused the said letter. It is dated November 18, 2016. As indicated in the pleadings, the events that led to the claimant’s termination occurred on January 25, 2017,” she said.
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Kinama was hired by the church in 2007. At the time he was taking home some Sh8,000 but at the time of his sacking was making Sh15,000.
The complainant told the court that pastor Ng’ang’a on January 24, 2017 assigned him new responsibilities at the church’s canteen.
At the time, the church had hired a new car attendant who just like Kinama, demanded to collect parking fees.
A tussle ensued which saw the church cashier wade into the matter. She too claimed to be responsible for the parking fees.
The church manager was yet to resolve the matter when Kinama was summoned by Pastor Ng’ang’a on January 25 at 9 pm when he was fired.
Kinama informed the court that Ng’ang’a dismissed his explanation and fired him on the spot. He attached text messages from the pastor to support his claim.
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