Is this the most jinxed position at the Judiciary?

For eight years, the office of the Director of Finance at the Judiciary has never had a substantive holder. FILE PHOTO | POOL

For eight years, the office of the Director of Finance at the Judiciary has never had a substantive holder. This is despite the crucial role the office plays in managing billions of shillings given to the Judiciary every year.

The first holder was Benedict Abonyo Omollo, who took over in 2013. But he was kicked out two years later, because of what the court concluded, was his tribe.

The second holder, Beatrice Kamau, held the position in an acting capacity, following the suspension of Mr Abonyo for about two years before Dr Susan Oyatsi was appointed as the acting director of finance in 2015.

It was not until March last year when the Employment and Labour relations court ordered her employer- the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) to hire Dr Oyatsi as the substantive director.

The court also ordered JSC to compensate her Sh13.6 million for the six years she had been acting.

The JSC was not satisfied with the decision and escalated the matter to the Court of Appeal. The matter has been pending hearing since October last year, despite being filed under a certificate of urgency.

There was a new twist recently after the Employment court directed the Judiciary to reinstate Mr Abonyo to his former position.

Mr Abonyo was acquitted of charges of stealing Sh80 million by a Makadara court in 2020.

Employment court judge Monica Mbaru noted that Mr Abonyo was fired because of his tribe and directed the JSC to compensate him Sh11 million arising from withheld salary and unlawful sacking.

“The fact that the claimant reported the matter (threats about his ethnicity) to his superiors and who failed to take action on the matter further smacks on his rights to be treated fairly and without discrimination which right is secured under the Constitution,” the judge said.

Troubles for Mr Abonyo started after he alerted the JSC that the house allowance of one commissioner was not being taxed and the sitting allowance for another member was being paid outside the Judiciary payroll.

This triggered a threat from one of the JSC commissioners that members of Mr Abonyo’s tribe were dominant in the Judiciary management and some of them should go.

“It is therefore direct discrimination against a person where his ethnicity is applied against him in zest and gusto, particularly where the matter is stated by a public officer serving as a commissioner in the JSC,” the judge said.

Read: Ruling to confirm Judiciary finance director suspended

But as the judge directed the JSC to re-engage him on the same or similar terms he held in 2015, Dr Oyatsi has been waiting on the sidelines to get the job back.

She has been interviewed on two occasions in 2015 and 2019, for the job but she was never confirmed for the position.

In the decision in March last year, the Labour court agreed with her that the cumulative effects of keeping her in acting capacity for long degraded her human dignity and that she was being subjected to undignified work conditions.

Justice Nduma Nderi noted Dr Oyatsi was duly qualified and competent to hold the position.

Dr Oyatsi brought to the attention of the court that her colleagues who were appointed to act at the same time, one as director of the audit and risk management and the other, as director of planning and organizational performance, were promptly confirmed officially as substantive office holders.

She recalled that former Chief Justice David Maraga commended her for exemplary performance during the period she was acting.

The former CJ noted that Dr Oyatsi had conceptualised the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) idea and became the chairperson of the project implementation team of the Judiciary Financial Management Information System (JFMIS).

Justice (retired) Maraga also noted that she was instrumental in aiding the E-filing and case tracking system, which enabled the integration of a payment gateway and JFMIS.

According to Mr Maraga, the homegrown finance management system, which comprises expenditure, deposit, budget, and revenue modules brought to the Judiciary a lot of efficiencies.

“Above all, you have demonstrated integrity, quintessential excellence and performance of your duties as Ag. Director of Finance,” Justice Maraga wrote to Dr Oyatsi.

In the judgment, Justice Nderi noted that her appraisal and evaluation of her performance confirmed that she was duly qualified and competent to hold the position as exhibited in JSC’s own documents.

The court ruled that JSC was bound by its own human resource policies and procedures manual, in the same way, the employees were bound to abide by its terms in their daily work disposition and behaviour.

The JSC then appealed against the decision and obtained a temporary order, suspending the judgment.

However, a few weeks later, the JSC demoted her while she was on leave and posted her to Kakamega as an assistant director of finance.

The JSC also issued several memos to various stakeholders notifying them of Dr Oyatsi’s ‘changed’ status.

When she reported back to her office, she found that the locks to her office had been changed and was handed a letter directing her to report to Kakamega by November 16.

Read: Judiciary finance boss fired due to tribe, tax evasion leak back

Dr Oyatsi went back to court and accused the JSC of abusing the temporary stay order, unilaterally changing her employment status and deploying her to Kakamega.

In the latest application, Dr Oyatsi asked the Court of Appeal to lift the order to ‘preserve the rule of law, integrity and powers of the court as well as her legal rights’.

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