National Bank of Kenya chief executive Wilfred Musau has been accused of sexual assault and harassment by a female employee of the lender.
Asanta Samantha Luku has filed the suit at the Employment and Labour Relations Court complaining that Mr Musau has threatened to sack her if she does not give in to his sexual advances.
ACCUSATIONS
She claims that the HR department has asked her to withdraw a complaint she has filed on the matter.
Ms Luku, who is a manager in the mortgage section, says the sexual advances started early 2017 but took a turn for the worse after she emerged top in an internally advertised position of business development manager.
“The second respondent (Mr Musau) summoned me to his office and told me that I had emerged the best in the interview and had been recommended for appointment…the second respondent said my letter of acceptance was on his desk awaiting his signature without which I could not get the job,” she claims in an affidavit.
“He said that if I wanted the job then I should have sex with him,” she claims in a detailed affidavit that vividly describes the alleged ordeal she suffered in the hands of the top-most officer at the Nairobi Securities Exchange listed bank.
PROTECTION
Ms Luku is asking the court to restrain Mr Musau from harassing her sexually and wants protection for her job.
Further, she wants to be awarded Sh55 million in damages.
She has listed National Bank and Mr Musau as the respondents. They are yet to respond, but court records show they have appointed a law firm to represent them.
To support her case she has attached email correspondence, screenshots of Mr Musau’s messages and calls, statements she recorded with the police and hospital records.
ATTACK
She alleges that he started by calling her to his office and remarking that she was very beautiful and should be his girlfriend. He would sometimes make late night calls to repeat the comments.
On October 25, he allegedly called her and demanded that she meet him the following day without fail to discuss and finalise her pending appointment.
The meeting lasted until about 10 in the night when he allegedly pulled his chair close to her, got hold of her and attempted to touch her private parts, at which point she jumped out of her seat.
“He pulled me back and wrestled me to the ground and kicked my private parts and punched my breasts several times,” she claims.
She reported the ordeal at Hardy Police Station. She then proceeded to Nairobi Hospital where she was treated for injuries.