Court rejects bid to stop probe on Kenya Ports Authority jobs scandal

Kenya Ports Authority workers’ lawyer Danson Mungatana (left) and KPA’s lawyer Michael Songoro (right) yesterday during a case in which the employees have moved to the Industrial Court seeking to stop investigation and dismissal over forgery of certificates. [Photo: Kelvin Karani/standard]

Time is running out for dozens of Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) employees including 25 managers who allegedly secured employment and developed their careers using fictitious academic and professional certificates. The employees had moved to the Industrial Court seeking to stop investigation and dismissal of the 126 workers targeted. They also wanted KPA be held accountable for the mess.

Many of the employees admitted the forgery but pleaded to be forgiven and demoted rather than be sacked. But their request was rejected by KPA amid fresh reports that the workers will now be handed to police for further investigations. They now risk sacking at the end of this month after Justice James Rika declined to halt the disciplinary process yesterday. Originally, 136 workers were affected but the number has reduced to 126 after some died, fled or resigned.

The documents attached to papers filed by the affected KPA worker’s lawyer Danson Mungatana last week alleged that besides forging certificates for examinations, the affected employees never sat examinations they claimed they had. Some of them allegedly manufactured professional and academic certificates indicating they studied at schools that do not actually exist.

But KPA’s lawyer Michael Sangoro demanded that Mungatana, a former KPA board chairman, withdraws from the case because of his past post at KPA. Sangoro further claimed that Mungatana actually chaired meetings that endorsed the proposals to discipline the affected workers following a massive audit that began in 2012.

“The investigation into this matter will be concluded at the end of this month and as such you should not stop the ongoing process,” said Sangoro.

Sangoro, who filed KPA’s response after being sued by the workers last week, told the court in Mombasa that he was opposed to Mungatana’s application to stop the disciplinary proceedings. Sangoro said Mungatana should not represent the workers in question because he presided over KPA board of directors meeting on October 30, 2014, which resolved to have the workers dismissed.

Sangoro said according to the minutes filed in the court as part of evidence, Mungatana chaired the meeting, which deliberated on the issue and it was agreed the workers in question have to go home.

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But Mungatana denied claims he signed the minutes, which KPA has filed in the court in its replying affidavit asking him to disqualify himself from the case.

“I will file my defence to prove that I did not sign the minutes KPA has filed that I chaired the meeting which decided the workers should be sacked,” said Mungatana.

Sangoro also said Dock Workers Union Secretary General Simon Sang had no legal right to represent the 126 workers because some of them were not his members. Sangoro said port workers were only 107 while 25 were from the management.

“Dock workers have no legal rights to represent the workers because some of them are in the management while others have died, resigned and ran away before the law caught up with them,” said Sangoro.

He said the work to send these workers home started in May 2015 and has since been ongoing but their fate will be decided at the end of this month.

Sangoro admitted some of the employees were employed without any certificate but things changed in 2005 when the KPA management adopted a new policy in which any worker who wanted to be promoted had to produce academic and professional certificates. He said following this new rule, several workers who had no certificates started forging them.

“It is true some employees were employed without any certificate but after the 2005 policy, some of them made forgeries to earn promotion and other benefits,” said Sangoro.

By the time of going to press, reports indicated most of the affected employees had gone on leave as panic gripped the port that the workers could be arrested.