Ex-banker tells court his woes after 1998 blast

By Wahome Thuku

A former Cooperative Bank employee on Monday narrated how he lost his job over his medical expenses for injuries he sustained during the August 1998 bomb blast.

Eric Mwangi told a Nairobi judge he was dismissed in May 1999, after being accused of misappropriating the bank’s funds in fake medical claims.

Mr Mwangi then worked in the Cooperative Bank’s Card Centre located in Cooperative House. He is among 30 former employees who have jointly sued the bank for unfair dismissal after the bomb blast.

Several bank employees were killed and others maimed in the blast that hit the adjacent US Embassy and reduced the towering Cooperative House into a shell.

Mwangi narrated how he fell and sustained knee injuries during the blast. "Though I did not suffer open wounds, my knees began swelling and aching. I had to seek medical help," he said.

He said he began consulting a Dr Okumu on Luthuli Avenue in Nairobi, in December 1998. The treatment entailed draining fluid from the knees on regular basis.

Mwangi, who was led through his evidence by his lawyer Samuel Mwaniki, said he was entitled to Sh150,000 but spent Sh72,000.

Damaged reputation

On May 11, 1999, he said he received a letter from his employer requiring him to explain why he could not be disciplined for misappropriating funds. The same day, he was suspended and two days later he received a dismissal letter.

The bank then began following him up to pay Sh8.5 million loan he had secured to buy a house.

He narrated that he negotiated for a repayment of Sh40,000 a month, but sometime in 2002, the bank auctioned the house.

"I never got a cent in terminal dues. The bank put my dues in the loan account and sold the house worth Sh3.5 million," he told Justice John Mwera.

Before then, he said he had written an apology letter to the bank. Mwangi recounted he has been jobless for the past 13 years since the bank curtailed his efforts to get employment in a number of companies.

"I once got a job with an oil company, but they sought reference from the bank and the offer was cancelled," he said.

He said the bank did not bother to investigate his medical claims to find out the truth.

"No one can employ me after being jobless for that long and my house could be worth more than Sh13 million today."

He is demanding compensation for damaged reputation, loss of employment and other damages. He will be cross-examined by the bank’s lawyer on October 25.