By ALEX KIPROTICH

He looks at his two weakly sons with bleary eyes and vows to get a permanent solution: get rid of their ugly sight. For him, a ‘soft drink’ laced with poison will do the job perfectly well.

The sickly boys lying on a torn mattress on the floor sigh with relief on seeing the ‘juice’. For days they have not had anything to eat.

"Boys. Come over."

And as they struggle to rise on their feeble knees, his heart sinks and thinks twice about what he is just about to do.

"I had decided enough is enough but changed my mind at the eleventh hour," Francis Quadros explains to this writer.

Quadros’ frustrations stem from his unfruitful efforts to chase his compensation from a law firm he contracted to argue his case after his former employer retrenched him without a penny. He was dismissed in 2000, leaving behind unpaid commissions and compensation for dismissal.

Worse still, auctioneers raided his house and took away everything save for a pair of cloths and sandals he wore that fateful day. They also evicted him out of the house.

Retrenched

"I have been through hell yet someone still holds my money amounting to hundreds of thousands of shillings," he says. Quadros worked for SDV Transami (K) Ltd between 1994 and 2000 when he was retrenched.

"They had poached me from a reputable employer. So I felt I had to take them to court," he says.

Quadros, 64, sued his employer through Khaminwa & Khaminwa Advocates in 2003 and four years later, High Court Judge D K Maraga ruled in his favour.

"The plaintiff shall therefore have the costs of this plus interest on court rates on the said sum of Sh742,336.40 from the date of filing of this suit and on costs from taxation," reads the judgement delivered on July 19, 2007.

Documents in our possession indicate after the ruling, the law firm wrote to Mogaka Omwenga & Company Advocates representing Transami asking them to advise its client to settle payment in 14 days. "The judgement in this matter was delivered on July 19, 2007, which was in our client’s (Joao Quadros Francis) favour. We therefore request that you favour us with your client’s cheque of Sh1,143,198.05," reads the letter in our possession.

The amount was for one month in lieu of notice, unpaid commissions, and interest from 2005 to the day of making the ruling. On August 31, Mogaka Omwenga & Mabeya responded enclosing a cheque of Sh1,165,468.10 to cover for the award and interests. However, Quadros and his family have lived on alms while chasing for the cash. He has had to contend with several evictions by landlords and his belongings auctioned.

Contacted for comment, John Khaminwa of Khaminwa & Khaminwa Advocates told this writer to keep off the matter. He demanded to know why the complainant took the matter to the Press. "Do you know I am a senior lawyer and you cannot be phoning me? Kiprotich be serious and leave the matter alone," he said, before disconnecting the phone.

However, Claire from the Lawyers Complaint Commission advises the complainant to re-file the case with them, but Quadros alleges the commission turned him away two years ago when he approached it.