Former Telkom staff to get Sh1.2bn retirement package

Former Telkom Kenya employees on Tuesday agreed to a Sh1.2 billion retirement payoff from the former State corporation for their retirement benefits, bringing to an end an eight-year court battle between the two parties.

The money will be remitted to 997 former employees who are expected to get between Sh900,000 and Sh3.5 million each in severance pay, which will be disbursed in three installments of Sh460 million each.

The former workers were retrenched in 2006, but Telkom was found to have acted discriminatorily by the Court of Appeal last year.

The former Telkom workers signed a deed of settlement with their former employer, securing the sum after a battle which saw them go to the Industrial Court, High Court and Court of Appeal.

“At the request of Telkom’s advocates, we withheld filing in court of the duly executed Deed of Settlement to await internal process with their client. Having waited for more than two months without hearing from them, we have proceeded to file the Deed of Settlement in court to bring it into effect,” said their lawyer Charles Koech.

They have already written to Telkom informing it of a seven-day deadline to pay the first installment, failure of which will see them attach some of its assets to settle the debt.

Court of Appeal judges Paul Kariuki, Kathurima M’Inoti and Jamila Mohammed on that occasion ruled that Telkom compensate the former workers with Sh3.2 billion, which was to accrue a 14 per cent interest.

The deed of settlement will see the end of two suits the former employees had filed in the High Court and that had been challenged by their former boss in the Court of Appeal. It was recorded before Justice John Mwera.

“We are happy that they have agreed to pay us. It has delayed because the money was initially to be paid between July and September, but they delayed,” said Naftali Kanyoro, one of the retrenched workers after signing of the settlement.

The retrenched Telkom employees had initially sought Sh3.2 billion, but settled for the significantly less amount after an out of court negotiation.

The settlement also comes as a relief to Telkom Kenya, which was in the process of disposing some of its assets in April before the Industrial Court stopped the process midway through.

READ: Telkom appeals court decision to award former staff

Justice Njagi Marete halted the sale following an application by the former employees, who told the Court that they feared the firm would have no attachable assets if the sale was allowed.

The firm is in the process of concluding the buyout of French firm Orange’s 70 per cent stake. Orange has opted to pull out of the Kenyan market.