Kenya County Government Wokrers Union v Wajir County Government & 4 others [2021] KEELRC 684 (KLR)
The bottom line
#Wajir County officials were found in contempt for ignoring a court order to pay workers full salaries, given 14 days to comply or face sanction.
What this practically means
#Executive summary
#Questions the Court framed
#The issues the Court set itself to decide, in its own words.
- 1.Whether the respondents and cited officers are in contempt of the judgment and orders of 16th January 2020
- 2.Whether the application is res judicata or an abuse of process given earlier contempt rulings
- 3.Whether section 21 of the Government Proceedings Act bars contempt/execution proceedings against the County Government
- 4.Whether the respondents discharged the burden of showing the disobedience was not wilful
Key legal issues
#Wilfulness of the disobedience
The respondents and their officers were in wilful, deliberate contempt and failed to purge it; no evidence of financial inability was offered
The decree had been served since 30th July 2020 and the contemnors had already been sanctioned on 10th December 2020 yet compliance was not effected. The court held the respondents needed to prove the disobedience was beyond their control and made little or no effort to do so. Alleged constraints and the pending appeal could not displace the standing judgment and decree.
Res judicata and procedure objections
The objections (res judicata, amendment, section 21 Government Proceedings Act) were rejected; the judgment stands and no stay was shown
The respondents argued the second contempt application was res judicata and that section 21 of the Government Proceedings Act governed execution against a County Government. The court held the judgment and decree stand, the referenced Court of Appeal appeal E291 of 2020 was not attached and no stay of execution existed, so the contempt application could proceed.
Purging of contempt
Despite a previous sanction, the contempt had not been purged; a contemnor purging genuinely will be accepted, but none occurred here
The court applied authorities holding that a civil court has no interest in punishing a litigant unless there is no option, and will accept a genuine purge. On 17th March 2021 the officers pleaded for six months to process dues but no effort followed, so the indulgence was exhausted and sanction became appropriate.
Legal principles established
#- Civil contempt consists of failure to comply with a judgment or order of a court
- A contemnor alleging inability to comply must place succinct evidence that the disobedience was not intentional but beyond their control
- Contempt proceedings exist to safeguard the rule of law, not to placate the applicant
Court orders
#- 1.Respondents found in contempt of the court order issued on 16th January 2020 and having failed to purge the contempt
- 2.Contemnors given 14 days to implement the order of 16th January 2020
- 3.Failing compliance, the respondents will not be heard by this Court or allowed to participate in these proceedings until the contemnors purge their act of contempt
- 4.The contemnors will be invited to offer mitigation prior to sentencing
- 5.The contemnors shall attend personally on 28th October 2021 in open court
- 6.Application dated 8th April 2021 allowed as against all contemnors
- 7.Costs to the petitioner
The bench
#One judgment of the whole court — no separate or dissenting opinions.
Wrote the judgment
- Jurisdiction invoked
- Inherent contempt jurisdiction of the Employment and Labour Relations Court over disobedience of its orders of 16th January 2020
Relief refused
#Immediate committal of the cited officers to civil jail for six months
The court accommodated the contemnors with 14 days to comply before any sanction issues
Imposition of a fine and attachment of assets at this stage
Sentencing deferred pending compliance and mitigation
Costs
Costs to the petitioner.
Quotable passages
#Verbatim from the judgment, each located to the page it appears on in the official PDF — so these can be cited and checked directly.
Accordingly, application dated 8th April, 2021 is hereby allowed as against all contemnors. Costs to the petitioner.
The upshot is that I find the respondents - Wajir County Government, Wajir County Assembly Service Board and through its officers Ibrahim Ahmed Yakub, Speaker - Wajir County Assembly; Shalle Sheikh Mursal - Clerk, Wajir County Assembly; and Abdullahi Mohamed Hassan - Chief Officer Finance, Wajir County Government are in contempt of Court for disobedience of the Court order issued on 16 th January, 2020 and have failed to purge the contempt.
A party who walks through the Justice Door with a court Order will be obeyed by those to whom the Order is directed.
The respondents will not be heard by this Court or be allowed to participate in these proceedings until the contemnors purge their act of contempt.
Issues in the judgment
#Judgment contains an apparent internal date inconsistency - reply references a ruling of 11th November 2011 versus 11th November 2020
Judgment records the conviction as two weeks imprisonment with fine alternative while noting no contemnor was given a right to representation
Key timeline
#Practical implications
#Frequently asked questions
#Cite this brief
#Cite this brief
Caselaw, "Kenya County Government Wokrers Union v Wajir County Government & 4 others [2021] KEELRC 684 (KLR)", Case Analysis (2021). Application dated 8th April, 2021 in Employment and Labour Relations Court Petition. Source: https://new.kenyalaw.org/akn/ke/judgment/keelrc/2021/684/eng@2021-10-14
Suggested citation format for research notes or client memos. Always verify the original judgment before relying on any point.