Nganga v Laptrust (Umbrella) Retirement Fund Board of Trustee & another (Employment and Labour Relations Cause 367 of 2018) [2025] KEELRC 1296 (KLR)
The bottom line
#Kenya's Employment Court confirmed it cannot decide pension calculation disputes; retirees must first complain to the Retirement Benefits Authority before any court can hear their claim.
What this practically means
#Executive summary
#Questions the Court framed
#The issues the Court set itself to decide, in its own words.
- 1.Whether this court has jurisdiction to handle the dispute on calculation of pension dues
- 2.Whether the Claimant is entitled to the reliefs sought (not reached)
Key legal issues
#Jurisdiction of the ELRC over pension calculation disputes
The court lacks jurisdiction; the dispute must be pursued under the Retirement Benefits Act mechanism (complaint to CEO of RBA under Section 46, appeal to Tribunal under Sections 47/48)
Both respondents submitted that the Retirement Benefits Act provides an exhaustive internal dispute-resolution mechanism and that Section 12 of the ELRC Act does not confer jurisdiction over pension disputes. The court relied on the Supreme Court decision in Kenya Tea Growers (NSSF) and case law cited, holding that this court has no jurisdiction over pension matters, and struck out the claim.
Legal principles established
#- The ELRC has no jurisdiction to determine disputes over calculation of pension dues, which fall under the Retirement Benefits Authority dispute-resolution mechanism
Court orders
#- 1.The claim is struck out
- 2.No order of costs
The bench
#One judgment of the whole court — no separate or dissenting opinions.
Wrote the judgment
- Jurisdiction invoked
- ELRC Act Section 12 as argued; court found it lacks jurisdiction over pension calculation disputes under Retirement Benefits Act
Relief refused
#Declaration that underpayment of retirement benefits was unconstitutional, illegal and null and void
Court found it lacked jurisdiction over pension calculation disputes
Payment of Kshs. 8,804,085.36 being withheld retirement benefits
Claim struck out for want of jurisdiction
General damages, costs and interest
Claim struck out; no order of costs made
Costs
No order of costs (each party to bear own costs implied - 'no order of costs')
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.
this matter having emanated from calculation of pension dues of the claimant, I do return a verdict that this court has no jurisdiction to handle the same.
The claim is struck out accordingly with no order of costs.
jurisdiction is everything without it a court has no powers and where the court has no jurisdiction there is no need to continue the proceedings
Issues in the judgment
#Judgment refers to claimant with both male and female pronouns
Name of 1st Respondent's witness appears inconsistently as Susan Jobaye in the witness statement but Susan Ndubai in evidence record
Cited case name appears misspelled ('Panal Pina Airfio Limited') and 'Kenya Tea Growers NSSF and Others KESC 42(KLR)' lacks full citation details
Key timeline
#Practical implications
#Frequently asked questions
#Cite this brief
#Cite this brief
Caselaw, "Nganga v Laptrust (Umbrella) Retirement Fund Board of Trustee & another (Employment and Labour Relations Cause 367 of 2018) [2025] KEELRC 1296 (KLR)", Case Analysis (2025). Memorandum of Claim dated 19th March 2018 (ELRC). Source: https://new.kenyalaw.org/akn/ke/judgment/keelrc/2025/1296/eng@2025-05-08
Suggested citation format for research notes or client memos. Always verify the original judgment before relying on any point.