Union to pay Sh16.4m to family of employee shot dead outside offices

The Court of Appeal has dismissed a case by the Dock Workers Union (DWU) seeking to stop paying Sh16.4 million to the family of an employee shot dead on January 29, 2020, outside the union offices by unknown assailants.

The Director of Occupational Safety and Health Services (OSHS) found DWU liable for Samuel Onyancha’s death based on the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) report.

It awarded Onyancha’s family Sh16,482,336 on March 11, 2022.

However, DWU Secretary General Simon Sang denied any liability towards Onyancha’s death and instead said that the Inspector General of Police and Cabinet Secretary of the Interior should be held liable.

He said that Onyancha’s death did not arise from an accident due to occupational safety as provided under the OSHA.

The union moved to the appellate court seeking to stop Onyancha’s family from enforcing the compensation after Justice Monica Mbaru and Justice Joyce Alouch dismissed their applications.

In a petition before Justice Alouch of the Employment and Labour Relations Court, Sang said that the IG and CS Interior are held liable for accidents caused by criminals and other unlawful groupings and organisations and their networks, as they have the power and authority to provide security to the property and lives of Kenyan citizens.

In the suit, the DWU cited the Director of Occupational Safety and Health Services, the Inspector General, the National Police Commission, the Labour CS, the Interior CS, the Attorney General and Margaret Nyamwaya, who represented Onyancha.

However, the appellate judges said that DWU did not file any appeal seeking to quash the compensation before them, and therefore there was nothing to determine upon.

Justices Agnes Murgor, Kibaya Laibuta and Ngenye Macharia also said that they have no jurisdiction to grant any order for injunction or stay in the terms sought or at all for the reason that Justice Aluoch neither granted nor refused the application for stay.

The judges said there was no enforceable order made by the superior court that could be the subject matter of the application for injunction or stay. 

“In view of the negative order, it becomes apparent that there is nothing that we have been called upon to stay the sum. The notice of motion dated February 21, 2025, is without merit and is hereby dismissed with costs in the appeal,” said Justice Murgor.

According to Sang, the Director of Occupational Safety and Health Services acted outside its statutory authority by wrongfully treating the OSHA report as a Work Injury Benefits Act claim on which it purported to assess and award compensation to the deceased’s beneficiaries under Sections 28 and 30 of WIBA.