The Employment and Labour Relations Court has ordered the government to award Former Youth and Gender PS Lilian Omollo a one shilling compensation for her unlawful dismissal from office.
Lilian Omollo was appointed as a Principle Secretary for Public Service and Youths in 2015 . She was removed from office in June 2018 after she was charged over an alleged loss of 9billion at the National Youth Service (NYS).
In the ruling, according to Judge Radido Stephen, the removal of Former PS from the government’s payroll was unconstitutional, saying “The petitioner was not subjected to due process, nor was she given reasons for the removal from office under the hand of the President. She was ingeniously notified that her tenure had ended because a replacement had been appointed”
The Constitution, under Article 236,dictates that Civil Servants have a legitimate expectation that due process should be observed in their removal from office or government payroll.
The Judge acknowledged the dismissal as violation of her rights but awarded her the nominal compensation due to her pending corruption charges. Ms Lillian Omollo was found to have unexplained amounts of wealth.
In April this year, the anticorruption Jugde Mumbi Ngugi ruled that the 33 .6 million Kenyan shillings held in Lilian Omollo’s accounts were proceeds of crime and was therefore liable for confiscation by the state.
Nominal court awards refer to a small sum of money awarded as damages to someone who has suffered a legal wrong but no actual financial loss.