The Judge of the Employment and Labour Relations Court (ELRC), Lady Justice Jemimah Keli, has advised residents of Makueni with labour-related disputes to file their cases at the Chief Magistrates Court in Makueni.
The Lady Justice observed that possibly due to lack of awareness about the services being available at Makueni, people have been travelling to Nairobi for the services that are readily available at their doorsteps.
She, however, clarified that only disputes of employment and labour relations cases for plaintiffs earning Sh80,000 and below can be determined at the Chief Magistrate’s court level.
This piece of advice comes at a time when many people who have either been dismissed from jobs and believe the dismissal was unprocedural or those that believe they are underpaid and need legal determination travel to Nairobi to file their cases, incurring huge expenses in travel costs and time spent.
Keli pointed out that there was need for sensitisation to ensure residents are aware of court services available at whatever level to save them from the unnecessary costs.
“It has been established that workers who have been dismissed wrongly, putting up claims or are underpaid travel to file their cases in Nairobi. If they earn a salary of Sh80,000 and below, they can file the cases at the magistrate’s court. This will minimise the costs they incur when travelling to Nairobi,” said Keli when she led ELRC, Judicial Review and Division on a supervisory visit to Makueni Law Court.
During the visit, discussions centred on the service delivery, operational challenges and enhancement of access to justice in employment and labour relations matters.
Overall, the visiting team was pleased with the organisation of the magistrate’s court in clearing cases; the registry was well kept and the staff had no issues.
The team also took time to engage with the Court Users Committee (CUC) members.
Present included Makueni Law Court Chief Magistrate Peter Gesora among other court officials.
By Patrick Nyakundi
