When Yusuf Abdallah was fired from his job in 1996, barely a year after being hired, he filed a case in court seeking compensation for unfair termination of his contract.
But for over 20 years, he has been in the corridors of justice seeking "elusive justice".
His predicament was made worse when the Supreme Court referred him back to the Industrial Court to start a fresh process of seeking justice.
Supreme Court judge Mohammed Ibrahim sympathised with Abdallah's predicament but ruled that there was nothing he could do to end his long wait for justice.
"The petitioner is directed to go and pursue his matter in the Industrial Court, a. And I will humbly implore on the Industrial Court to consider fast-tracking this matter given the long time it has taken in the judicial system," ruled Ibrahim.
Abdallah's decision to go to the Supreme Court epitomised a frustrated person who did not bother to pass through the Court of Appeal as long as he gets justice. Under the hierarchy of courts in Kenya, you cannot approach the Supreme Court without passing through the appellate court.
"I have been a victim of infringement of my constitutional rights having been in court for all these years seeking justice. When I finally got it, the same court system including judges and the respondents conspired to deny me what I have been seeking for such a long time," said Abdallah.
He was hired by Building Centre Limited and signed a contract in September 1995. However, the company terminated his contract in May 1996, prompting him to seek redress at the High Court.
His application was heard by several judges including Lady Justices Roseline Nambuye and Abida Aroni.
He, however, waited until February 2012 when the late Lady Justice Joyce Khaminwa ruled that he was irregularly dismissed from employment and awarded him Sh2.2 million as compensation.
Instead of going to the Court of Appeal to challenge the decision, the company decided to file for a review of the decision before another High Court Judge and in January 2013, Justice George Odunga overturned Justice Khaminwa's decision.
Justice Odunga directed that Abdallah should instead file his application at the Industrial Court which deals with unfair termination of contract.
It is the reason why he went straight to the Supreme Court.
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