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ELRCDismissedNot stated in the judgment· [2025] KEELRC 39 (KLR)

Alpha v Oloolaiser Water & Sewerage Company Ltd & 2 others (Cause 290 of 2020) [2025] KEELRC 39 (KLR)

Employment and Labour Relations Court
23 January 2025
RSRadido Stephen
686 words in judgment
View original judgmentRead on Kenya Law Watch case
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·~3 min to read original · ~4 min brief

The bottom line

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A Kenyan employment court refused to reinstate an unfairly dismissed worker's claim because he and his lawyer kept missing court dates without explanation.

What this practically means

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Executive summary

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The Claimant, Auka Mosomi Alpha, sued Oloolaiser Water & Sewerage Co Ltd, its Managing Director and Dickson Ntikoisa in July 2020 alleging unfair termination of employment. On 8 April 2024 neither the Claimant nor the Respondents attended the fixed hearing, and the Court dismissed the Cause for non-attendance. The Claimant then moved the Court by a Motion (dated 20 May 2024, filed 31 May 2024) seeking to set aside the dismissal, reinstate the claim, extend time to fix a hearing date, obtain directions for an early hearing, and recover costs. He attributed the non-attendance to a system failure preventing him logging into the virtual session while he was on official duty in Kisii, and asserted that an advocate holding brief (Mr Nyangoro) was denied audience after the Cause had been dismissed. The Respondents opposed through a replying affidavit sworn by their Human Resources Manager, contending the hearing date had been taken by consent, the Claimant's advocate had repeatedly failed to attend, and there was no proof of any system failure. The Court noted that the advocate said to have held brief filed no affidavit; that the Claimant's advocate had failed to appear on 13 September 2023, 7 December 2023 and 27 February 2024 without explanation; and that the Claimant, having been directed to file submissions, neither attended the hearing of the Motion on 6 November 2024 nor filed submissions within the agreed timeline. Concluding that the failures to attend Court and file submissions revealed an indolent litigant and advocate, the Court declined to exercise its discretion in his favour. Radido Stephen, MCIARB, J dismissed the Motion with costs on 23 January 2025, delivering the ruling virtually from Nairobi.

Key legal issues

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01

Whether the Claimant demonstrated sufficient cause for setting aside the dismissal of the Cause for non-attendance

Holding

The Claimant failed to demonstrate sufficient cause; the alleged advocate holding brief gave no affidavit, prior non-attendances were unexplained, and submissions were never filed within the agreed timeline.

Reasoning

The Court examined three strands of evidence: the advocate said to have held brief (Mr Nyangoro) filed no affidavit explaining what happened on the hearing date; the record showed the Claimant's advocate had failed to attend on at least three earlier dates (13 September 2023, 7 December 2023 and 27 February 2024) with no explanation tendered; and the Claimant neither attended the hearing of the Motion nor filed submissions within the agreed timeframe. Taken together, these failures evidenced indolence by both litigant and advocate, justifying refusal of the discretionary relief sought.

p. 2

Legal principles established

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  • A litigant seeking reinstatement of a cause dismissed for non-attendance must account for the non-attendance and demonstrate diligence; a litigant and advocate who repeatedly fail to attend Court and file submissions are indolent and disentitled to the Court's discretionary relief.

Court orders

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  1. 1.The Motion dated 20 May 2024 is dismissed with costs.
Jurisdiction invoked
Inherent and discretionary powers of the Employment and Labour Relations Court to reinstate a dismissed cause (unsupported by any cited provision in the judgment)

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, "Alpha v Oloolaiser Water & Sewerage Company Ltd & 2 others (Cause 290 of 2020) [2025] KEELRC 39 (KLR)", Case Analysis (2025). Not stated in the judgment. Source: https://new.kenyalaw.org/akn/ke/judgment/keelrc/2025/39/eng@2025-01-23

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