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The Industrial Division of the High Court has awarded Shs 36.3 million to a former Wakiso district employee after finding that his dismissal by the District Service Commission (DSC) was unlawful and procedurally unfair.
In a judgment delivered by Justice Anthony Wabwire Musana, alongside panel members Amos Lapenga, Emmanuel Bigirimana and Dr Olinga Dawn Kerjew, the court held that an employee accused of misconduct must be accorded a fair hearing before any decision to terminate their employment is made.
“If an allegation likely to have an adverse effect on an employee is made against them, the employee has the right to be heard,” the court ruled.
The judges added that the Employment Act requires an employer to have a genuine and provable reason for termination, which must be established through a disciplinary process.
“The procedural guardrails are twinned with and reinforced by a specific statutory requirement under Section 67(2) of the Employment Act that the reason for termination must be one that the employer genuinely believed to exist at the time of dismissal,” the ruling stated.
Court records show that Fred Ssewanyana joined Mpigi district on September 1, 1990, as a clerical officer. He was later appointed Records Assistant Grade II in 1995 and, following the creation of Wakiso district in 2002, transferred as a records officer.
However, in 2007, the Wakiso District Service Commission compulsorily retired him, citing the need to improve efficiency and achieve economy in service delivery. An appeal to the Public Service Commission failed after the commission upheld the district’s decision.
A decade later, Ssewanyana petitioned the Industrial Court, arguing that the retirement was unlawful. He contended that his academic qualifications had been verified and approved during a restructuring exercise conducted between 2005 and 2006, yet he was removed from service without being subjected to disciplinary proceedings or given an opportunity to defend himself.
He further argued that the decision was based on anonymous complaints and advice from the Public Service Commission, neither of which he was allowed to challenge.
In its defence, the District Service Commission maintained that Ssewanyana’s retirement stemmed from findings by the Public Service Commission that his appointment had been irregular. The commission alleged that he had presented a tampered Uganda Certificate of Education (UCE) certificate and had failed the English language examination requirement.
But the court found that the reasons advanced during the proceedings differed from those cited in the retirement letter. Whereas the letter referred to restructuring and cost-saving measures, the evidence presented in court pointed to allegations of irregular appointment and academic document forgery.
The judges noted that because the retirement was effectively based on allegations of misconduct, Ssewanyana should have been given an opportunity to respond.
“The evidence does not show that he was invited to respond in any way to the allegations that he had tampered with his O-Level certificate, failed the English language requirement, uttered a false document or otherwise arranged his affairs in a manner that rendered his appointment irregular,” the court ruled.
“In other words, he was not heard. Judged against the standards of a fair hearing under employment law, we find that the claimant’s compulsory retirement was unlawful and unfair.”
The court consequently awarded Ssewanyana Shs 27.4 million in severance pay, Shs 1.7 million as six months’ salary in lieu of notice, Shs 279,000 in transport costs, and Shs 6.85 million in general damages.
The court also ordered that the award attract interest at six per cent per annum from the date of dismissal until payment in full, and directed the Wakiso District Service Commission to meet the costs of the suit.
Related
, https://observer.ug/news/wakiso-district-ordered-to-pay-ex-employee-shs-36m-for-wrongful-dismissal/
