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ELRCAllowedMC ELRC No 412/2018 (Appeal)

Njunge v Muasya (Cause E040 of 2023) [2023] KEELRC 1692 (KLR)

Employment and Labour Relations Court
14 July 2023
ANAbuodha J. N.
855 words in judgment
View original judgmentRead on Kenya Law Watch case
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The bottom line

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A Kenyan court halted enforcement of a Kshs 405,000 judgment because the appeal raises a serious question about whether the claim was filed too late.

What this practically means

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Executive summary

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By a motion dated April 3, 2023, the appellant Alex Kaweru Njunge sought a stay of execution of the judgment of the Chief Magistrates Court at Milimani delivered on March 20, 2023 in MC ELRC No 412/2018, by which he was ordered to pay Kshs 405,173.15 plus costs and interest, pending the hearing and determination of his application and of his intended appeal. He deponed that the temporary stay granted by the trial court would expire on April 20, 2023; that he had filed a memorandum of appeal and applied for certified proceedings; that he would suffer substantial and irreparable loss if his property were attached; that his appeal raised arguable issues including that the claim was time-barred and that the trial court failed to distinguish between him and Sheqel Investments Ltd, a separate legal entity. The respondent opposed the application as brought in bad faith to delay enjoyment of the award and proposed that the decretal sum be deposited in court as security. Both parties filed submissions. The court identified the limitation issue under Section 10 of the Employment Act as fundamental to the jurisdiction of both courts, perused the trial court's ruling of May 16, 2022 on extension of time, and held that the ruling had similar implications on the judgment intended to be appealed from. On that basis alone the court granted an unconditional stay of execution pending the hearing and determination of the appeal.

Questions the Court framed

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The issues the Court set itself to decide, in its own words.

  1. 1.Whether a stay of execution of the judgment of March 20, 2023 in MC ELRC No 412/2018 pending appeal should be granted
  2. 2.Whether the claim in the trial court was filed outside the three-year limitation period under Section 10 of the Employment Act

Key legal issues

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01

Stay of execution pending appeal

Holding

Stay granted unconditionally because the intended appeal raises the jurisdictional question of whether the claim was time-barred under Section 10 of the Employment Act

Reasoning

The applicant filed a memorandum of appeal and obtained only a temporary stay of 30 days from the trial court, which was due to expire. The court perused the trial court's ruling of May 16, 2022, which dealt with extension of time to file the claim, and found that ruling had implications for the judgment intended to be appealed from. Given the limitation question affecting jurisdiction, the court granted an unconditional stay pending the appeal.

p. 2

Legal principles established

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  • Where the intended appeal raises a limitation issue going to jurisdiction of the trial court, an unconditional stay of execution may be granted pending appeal

Court orders

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  1. 1.Unconditional stay of execution of the judgment given on March 20, 2023 in Chief Magistrates Court at Milimani in MC ELRC No 412/2018 and the decree, pending the hearing and determination of the appeal

The bench

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One judgment of the whole court — no separate or dissenting opinions.

AN
majority

Wrote the judgment

On appeal from
Chief Magistrates Court at Milimani
MC ELRC No 412/2018
Jurisdiction invoked
Appellate jurisdiction over appeals from the Chief Magistrates Court in employment matters (Employment and Labour Relations Court Act)

Quotable passages

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Verbatim from the judgment, each located to the page it appears on in the official PDF — so these can be cited and checked directly.

For that reason alone, the court will grant an unconditional stay of execution pending the hearing and determination of the appeal.
p. 2stay of execution - limitation/jurisdiction
It is so ordered.
p. 3disposition

Issues in the judgment

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minor

Case number of the appeal itself is not stated in the judgment; only the trial court number MC ELRC No 412/2018 appears

minor

Delivery clause leaves the day blank except the date 14th July 2023

Key timeline

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Practical implications

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Frequently asked questions

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Cite this brief

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Cite this brief

Caselaw, "Njunge v Muasya (Cause E040 of 2023) [2023] KEELRC 1692 (KLR)", Case Analysis (2023). MC ELRC No 412/2018 (Appeal). Source: https://new.kenyalaw.org/akn/ke/judgment/keelrc/2023/1692/eng@2023-07-14

Suggested citation format for research notes or client memos. Always verify the original judgment before relying on any point.