Nyeri Deputy Governor Caroline Karugu Sues Governor Mutahi Kahiga for Illegally Withholding Her Salary

Nyeri Deputy Governor Caroline Karugu has sued Governor Mutahi Kahiga for allegedly withholding her salary.

In an application filed at the Labor and Employment Court in Nyeri, Karugu says she has not received her salary since November, 2019.

Karugu accuses Governor Kahiga of withholding her salary and locking her out of the office without justifiable reason.

Kahiga appointed Karugu as the deputy governor after he was sworn in as the governor following the death of her predecessor Wahome Gakuru, who was killed in a road accident in November 2017.

Through her lawyer Harrison Kinyanjui, Karugu say she has been blocked from using her office since November, 2019 and has been using her own resources to fuel her official county government vehicle.

“She has preserved to the point she cannot do so anymore,” she says in the petition.

The deputy governor also claims she has been denied phone, house, and entertainment allowance since November, 2019.

“The claimant’s office requires assured security and she was compelled to secure this by her own means for which she incurs a monthly expense of Sh15,000 without the respondent’s regard to her safety or well-being as she discharges official county duties,” she adds.

Karugu further says she is no longer invited for cabinet meetings and has also been stripped of all her support staff at the deputy governor’s office.

She notes that she resorted to court action after attempts to resolve the matter through phone calls to governor Kahiga and a demand notice failed.

Karugu wants the court to compel Governor Kahiga to release her withheld salary and allowances plus special damages totaling Sh442,107 and monthly payments for security at Sh15,000.

She also wants the county government to be ordered to pay her general damages for unlawful actions, costs of the suit, and interest on sums awarded at 27 percent per annum until fully cleared.