Kirinyaga County delt a blow as court upholds Ksh.5.7M award to ex-DG Ndambiri

By a Memorandum of Appeal dated 5th November 2024, the County wanted the court to set aside a Judgment of the Trail Court on grounds that the trial magistrate erred by awarding Ndambiri Ksh.5,700,000 housing allowance despite him having been paid in accordance with the gazette consolidated pay.

In his ruling, Judge Onesmus Makau said that a circular issued by the SRC on August 25, 2017 and May 20, 2019 were legally binding. 

"Accordingly, I find that Circulars by the SRC on the Housing Benefits for the State Officers in Counties and Deputy Governors dated 25th August 2017 and 20th May 2019 were not mere suggestions or recommendations to the Appellant but they were legally binding on it. It follows that the Appellant’s allegation that the Respondent’s salary of Kshs.621,250 included housing was contrary to the said binding SRC advice and therefore null and void," Makau ruled.

The judge said he had observed that the circulars advised the county government to provide the former deputy governor with an official residence constructed by the Appellant or leased for a rent capped at Kshs.90,000 per month. 

There is evidence that the county neither provided Ndambiri with an official residence nor leased house as advised by the SRC from September 2017 to August 2022 when he exited the office.

"In Petition No.328 of 2016, the court held that County Deputy Governors are entitled to housing benefits just like any other state officer,” the ruling further states. 

“The Appellant had the option of allocating an official residence or leased house for monthly rent capped at Kshs.90,000. It failed to do so for sixty months. The failure to exercise the above two options entitled the Respondent to compensation equaling to the monthly rent of Kshs.90,000 advised by the SRC,” it added. 

The judge further upheld that the decision by the trial court to award Ndambiri Ksh. 5,700,000 was “supported by the evidence on record and it must stand.” 

Makau therefore found no merits in the appeal by the county government.