Two Former Staff at Kenyan Embassy in Washington, DC Accuse Ambassador Robinson Githae of Wrongful Dismissal

Two former staffs of the Kenyan embassy in the United States have accused ambassador Robinson Njeru Githae of wrongful dismissal.

In a letter to Foreign Affairs Principal Secretary ambassador Macharia Kamau, Jafred Musamba and Joseph Asweto claim that Githae sent them home before their two-year contracts expired.

The two want Kenya's ministry of Foreign Affairs to intercede so they can resume their duties at the consulate. In termination letters dated August 24th, 2018 the Kenyan embassy in Washington, DC said it dismissed the two after they attained retirement age, reports Daily Nations' Chris Wamalwa..

“Records held in this office indicate that you attained the retirement age of 60 years on January 1, 2015. In accordance with Section D.21 of the Human Resources Policies and the Procedures Manual for the Public Service and Local Staff Regulations, one is required to retire from the service on attainment of the retirement age,” the letters read as quoted by Daily Nation.

Although they admitted to reaching age 60, the two argue that they had not reached retirement age, which they claim is 65. Retirement age for Kenyan civil servants is put at 60 and the two appear to be using the US retirement requirement age of 65.

“In any case, our contracts bear no clause stating the retirement age. The embassy has therefore violated the two-year contracts which expire in October, 2019, by summarily firing us as if we had committed a criminal offence."

Musamba and Asweto, who were recruited locally (in the US), further noted that ambassador Githae relied on civil service policy manuals to retire them yet they were not listed as civil servants.

Githae defended the move noting that the embassy didn't breach any contractual agreements with the two.

“The truth is that the people we let go, including the two gentlemen, were supposed to have retired a long time ago. In fact, Mr Asweto came here after retiring from the civil service at home so he should be enjoying his retirement benefits," he said when contacted for a comment.

The envoy also disclosed that the US State Department recently released a memo requiring all embassies and commissions accredited to the US not to employ locals for over five years.

“As you may already know, apart from attaining the retirement age, the two gentlemen were also the longest serving. It was only fair to start from the top down," Githae told Chris Wamalwa.

Ambassador Githae has also dismissed claims that he is planning to replace the two with his relatives. “If you go to our website, you will see their positions advertised. We will conduct a fair and open recruitment process for these positions,” he said.

The two have sought ministry's intervention before pursuing other routes.

“First of all, we are appealing to the ministry headquarters to intervene before it goes that far. Secondly, we need to be heard, especially by the ministry headquarters, which should come to our rescue because we did not deserve this. Even if it was a normal retirement, there’s always a notice to retire in a year. This was not followed,” Asweto said.

The complainants had worked at the Kenyan embassy in Washington, DC for more than two decades.

Musamba said: “My prayer is that the ministry will look into this matter and offer us a possible life line to allow us to retire honourably. I also pray that the ministry will find a way to harmonise the terms of locally engaged staff at the Kenya mission to the UN, the embassy in Washington, DC and the consulate in Los Angeles to prevent similar cases."