A former senior manager at Safaricom has lost his bid for compensation totalling more KSh 200 million after the telco giant fired him in 2021.
- •Francis Mwaura, who served as Senior Manager-Strategy Analysis, filed the case shortly after his termination, claiming three months’ pay in lieu of notice, accrued leave pay, bonus for 2021, shares under the employee share program, damages for defamation, and to facilitate the unconditional release of his pension.
- •He also wanted Safaricom to pay him airtime allowance, and facilitate his medical insurance, life insurance, and club membership for eight years.
- •Before Safaricom, Mwaura was Head of Financial & Management Reporting at Essar Telecom, after spending 15 years in senior positions at Bata Shoe Company, including as General Manager of its Tanzanian unit.
“Poor performance is recognized as a ground for termination of a contract of service,” Justice BOM Manani of the Employment and Labour Relations Court ruled on 15th September.
At the heart of the claim lay a series of disagreements over performance evaluations. Mwaura asserted that he had exceeded expectations, even citing a self-assessment score of over 130%. However, Safaricom’s management rated him significantly lower, and found that he failed to meet several key performance indicators tied to his department’s goals, some of which were affected by unforeseen challenges such as staffing shortages and delayed project rollouts. In the ruling, Justice Manani noted that Mwaura’s self-assessment, though confident, was not validated by supervisors as required, casting doubt on its reliability.
Mwaura argued that the shifting targets and abbreviated timelines undermined his ability to succeed. The court found that Safaricom had clearly set objective performance goals, provided support including additional staff, and offered Mwaura multiple chances to improve through formal Performance Improvement Plans (PIPs).
Mwaura said the termination was not simply a professional setback but a blow that damaged his reputation, strained his financial commitments, including bank loans and insurance, and clouded his future job prospects. He added that his claim for compensation exceeding Ksh 210 million reflected the depth of his loss, although the court dismissed the bulk of his case, only granting that he be allowed to access his pension benefits that had accrued until mid-March 2021.
Mwaura had been hired from Essar Telecom, which sold its assets to, and had most of its employees absorbed by, Safaricom and Airtel in 2014, at a monthly salary of Ksh 723,421, which rose over the next six years to more than Ksh 811,000.