Twiga Foods ordered to pay former employee US$7700 for unfair dismissal
Court says the company failed to prove claims of poor performance or follow due process.
KENYA – The Employment and Labour Relations Court has ordered Kenyan food distribution startup Twiga Foods to compensate a former sales representative with more than KES 1 million (approximately US$7740) after finding that the company dismissed him unfairly in 2018.
In a ruling delivered virtually on October 9, Justice Linnet Ndolo said Twiga Foods wrongfully terminated Maxton Duke Kibira after accusing him of poor performance without credible proof.
The judge said the company failed to follow due process and did not provide a clear job description.
“The respondent’s witness was unable to point out any proof of poor performance,” Justice Ndolo said in her judgment. She described the deductions from Kibira’s salary as “unilateral” and contrary to labour law.
The judge added that Twiga punished the employee twice for the same matter by first docking his pay and later dismissing him.
Twiga Foods argued that Kibira had received several warnings about poor results and that the salary deductions were tied to unearned bonuses.
But the court found no documented evidence of poor performance or any effort by the company to help the employee improve.
Kibira told the court that during his time at Twiga, he faced long working hours, unrealistic sales targets, and frequent transfers. He also claimed that Twiga deducted KES 426,000 (US$3,298 USD) from his pay for alleged unbanked cash, which the company failed to justify.
Pattern of labour disputes in Kenya’s tech sector
The ruling adds to a series of employment disputes involving tech startups in Kenya. In April, the same court ordered neobank Umba to pay KES 2.88 million (US$22,300) to a former executive for wrongful dismissal. The court found that the company lacked written performance goals for the employee.
Around the same time, pharmaceutical firm Dawa Life Sciences came under scrutiny after the court faulted it for unequal pay among workers in identical roles. The decision raised concerns about transparency and fairness in compensation practices within the startup scene.
Kibira, who joined Twiga in 2015 and earned about KES 100,000 (US$776.13) per month, said the case had been a long struggle but was glad justice was served. “I only wanted fairness. Losing a job without cause affects not just you but your whole family,” he said after the ruling.
The judgment serves as a warning to employers to uphold fair labour standards and document performance issues before taking disciplinary action. Justice Ndolo reminded companies that employee rights remain protected under Kenyan law regardless of a firm’s size or industry.
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