A former senior manager at the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) has told a court that she was sacked last year for refusing to grant preferential treatment to children of chairman Anthony Mwaura during auction of cars at the Port of Mombasa.
Ms Rosemary Njeri Mureithi, a former chief manager at Kilindini port in Mombasa, alleges that she was fired in August last year after refusing a request by Mr Mwaura’s children to buy cars and tyres in the auction of gazetted consignments through a private treaty.
In the petition filed at the Employment and Labour Relations Court at Milimani, the former manager alleges that turning down this request later proved costly to her.
“I told them the request was not reasonable and procedural as the auction was governed by a legal and regulatory framework as established by the East African Customs Management Act of 2010…contravening the foregoing would trigger legal consequences against the respondent (KRA),” she says in an affidavit filed in court.
She has sued KRA demanding compensation for illegal sacking, accrued gross income of Sh6.9 million and gratuity of Sh9.4 million.
The KRA has denied the claims, stating that Ms Mureithi will be put to task to prove the allegations.
“In response to the allegations in paragraph 23 of the Claim, the Respondent (KRA) denies the said allegations in toto and states that the claimant has not provided any evidence to prove that the chairperson marked her in any such circumstances and this honourable court should treat the said claim as unfounded. The Claimant is put to strict proof of the same,” KRA says in its response.
The taxman says her sacking was done lawfully and that Ms Mureithi consented to the said terms and conditions of service, which she signed on September 22, 2022.
The former manager said she joined KRA as a customs officer in January 1988 and was confirmed in June 1990. She was placed on probation until May 1997 when she was employed on a permanent basis.
Due to her dedication to duties, she says, she rose through the ranks to senior management positions within the chain of command.
In September 2022, she was transferred from her position at the Internal Container Depot Embakasi (ICDE) to the position of chief manager in charge of customs operations at the Port of Kilindini.
She said she was barely seven months into her new role when, on May 31, 2023, her employer terminated her contract without any prior indication that she had breached any of her contractual obligations.
Her lawyer, Kubo Mwakichako, says she wrote to KRA about a month later appealing the decision to terminate her employment but the employer wrote back confirming and upholding the sacking on August 11, 2023.
Mr Mwakichako said before that, Ms Mureithi’s rights to access the KRA operating system were deactivated on February 23, 2023, and was subsequently placed on a three months compulsory leave.
He said Ms Mureithi further recalled being visited by Mr Mwaura’s two children and another person. She allegedly explained to them the procedures of an auction.
The children allegedly sought to be given preferential treatment by not participating in the auction, so that they could purchase the cars and tyres through private treaty.
According to the former manager, the Commissioner, Customs & Boarder Control Department acknowledged the conduct of the auction after it fetched substantial revenue for the KRA.
But a few days later, Mr Mwaura allegedly visited her offices at the Mombasa Port where he complained that the auctions being conducted by the Staff including myself were a sham and he allegedly threatened to take relevant action.
“From the foregoing, it is clear that my termination by the respondent was occasioned by strict adherence to rules and procedures governing a public auction that was under my control,” she said, maintaining that she believed that she lost her job for refusing to grant the favours sought.
