A former top official of the Nairobi Hospital has been awarded Sh1.3 million by the Employment and Labour Relations Court for unlawful termination of employment over a security cameras tender allegedly issued to the wrong bidder.
The court found the facility, owned by the Kenya Hospital Association, irregularly fired its acting head of procurement and stores department, Anne Karoki, without a hearing.
Justice Mathews Nduma said the hospital failed to allow her to defend herself over the closed-circuit television (CCTV) tender said to have been awarded to the wrong entity, Servtel Communications.
The judge dismissed as false the evidence adduced by Maurice Mayende, the hospital’s human resource officer, concerning a disciplinary hearing allegedly 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.”
Ms Karoki was fired in February 2018 over errors that occurred in awarding a tender for the installation of 19 new CCTV cameras for Sh1.6 million. The tender was to be awarded to Icom Technologies, which had the lowest quotation, but it was awarded to Servtel Communications, which was not to be awarded as per the analysis of the bids.
In her response to the notice to show cause, Ms Karoki stated that on December 18, 2017, a person by the name Stephen Gichohi from the office of the chief security officer rushed to her office demanding that she sign three documents that were urgently needed by the security officer. She hurriedly perused the said documents and noted that the documents included a purchase request, purchase order and justification, and budget approval.
She told court that she did not notice that the order was made to Servtel Communications Limited instead of Icom Technologies, which had been approved to supply the cameras.
She said she did not notice the error until she discussed “the honest mistake” precipitated by the urgency with which the documents were required. On February 26, 2018, she received a memo to attend a disciplinary hearing on February 28, 2018. She went to the venue, but no hearing was conducted. She enquired about the matter but got no response.
Two days later she received a letter of termination of employment. She appealed against the decision to the chief executive but did not receive any response. Ms Karoki said her sacking was a witch-hunt and based on malice as the other three signatories to the purchase orders she signed were neither dismissed nor penalised in any way. BY DAILY NATION