Julius Wahome Wokabi v Invesco Assurance Company Limited [2016] KEELRC 126 (KLR)
The bottom line
#A Kenyan employment court revived a KShs 2.1 million salary arrears award on review, confirming six-year limitation applied, but dismissed older retainer fee and allowance claims.
What this practically means
#Executive summary
#Key legal issues
#Whether the salary arrears claim was filed within the limitation period
The suit was filed within six years of the cause of action for salary arrears accrued May to November 2007, so that claim is not time barred
The memorandum of claim showed the salary arrears claim related to May to November 2007, and the suit was filed on 28th February 2013, within six years. The judgment's contrary holding contradicted both the earlier ruling and the face of the pleadings, constituting an apparent error amenable to review.
Whether retainer fees and sitting allowance claims were time barred
Claims for retainer fees up to December 2005 and sitting allowance to March 2007 were time barred and dismissed
Those claims accrued more than six years before the suit filed on 28th February 2013. The court had already found the pre-2007 law applicable was a six-year limitation period, and these heads fell outside it.
Whether a judge may overrule his own earlier interlocutory ruling in final judgment
The learned judge erroneously purported to overrule his earlier ruling on time bar; review was warranted
The earlier ruling of 12th March 2015 had held the suit was in time under the six-year rule. The subsequent judgment contradicted this without recalling the prior determination, an error apparent on the face of the record justifying review in the claimant's favour on the salary head only.
Legal principles established
#- A court on review may correct an apparent error on the face of the judgment where it contradicts its own earlier ruling on limitation
- Limitation for employment claims under the pre-2007 regime is six years
Court orders
#- 1.Judgment delivered on 20th July 2016 reviewed so as to award the claimant Kshs.2,125,000.00 arrear salary
- 2.The award be paid with interest at court rates from date of filing suit till payment in full
- 3.Costs to follow the outcome
- 4.Claims for retainer fees arrears up to December 2005 and sitting allowance arrears to March 2007 dismissed as time barred
- Jurisdiction invoked
- Review jurisdiction of the Employment and Labour Relations Court over its own judgment
Key timeline
#Practical implications
#Frequently asked questions
#Cite this brief
#Cite this brief
Caselaw, "Julius Wahome Wokabi v Invesco Assurance Company Limited [2016] KEELRC 126 (KLR)", Case Analysis (2016). Not stated in excerpt. Source: https://new.kenyalaw.org/akn/ke/judgment/keelrc/2016/126/eng@2016-12-20
Suggested citation format for research notes or client memos. Always verify the original judgment before relying on any point.