A female Mali national, Aissata Tounkara Epse Sangare, was sacked by her employer after her husband reported that she was involved in fraud.
She was fired in May 2023, over accusations of gross misconduct after her husband notified her employer over her involvement in issues of fraud, abuse of power, and bullying in the organisation.
Her employer cited her husband’s whistleblowing message in her dismissal, noting that he was in a better position to understand her private deals.
Sangare was employed two years ago as the head of operations for the International Planned Parenthood Federation, a non-governmental organisation (NGO) dealing in sexual and reproductive healthcare in Kenya.
As a result, she has sued her former employer for illegal termination of her contract. She is also demanding more than Ksh44 million stating that the reasons for her dismissal had no legal basis.
She has maintained that the information her husband shared with the NGO cannot be admissible or substantiated in a court of law.
At the same time, she is accusing the NGO of failing to pay her the correct and accurate terminal benefits.
“The claimant states that the respondents were actuated by extreme malice and spite against her in terminating her service by categorising acts of defence against intimidation, harassment, and whistleblowing as gross misconduct whose reprisal is summary dismissal,” she said in the petition filed at the Employment and Labour Relations court.
According to the court papers, her basic salary was $8,555 (Ksh1.26 million) when she was employed by the NGO in April 2021.
In addition, she was also given health insurance coverage for herself and her dependents and a pension contribution.
She explained that she served with utmost loyalty and diligence until January 2023, when the NGO started laying off staff, citing redundancy.
Her position was also affected during the retrenchment exercise.
She is now demanding a total of $304,162 (Ksh44.8 million) to cater for unfair termination, repatriation package, and payment of unutilized leave days.
