Mr Ndung’u was being accused of having an inappropriate relationship with his personal assistant.
“It was shocking for me to be accused of something I had never even imagined doing,” Mr Ndung'u says.
Mr Ndung’u joined the firm in 1999 and served for 18 years rising to become the first Kenyan senior partner and chief executive officer and later head of tax. He was also a member and equity partner of KPMG Kenya.
He says he was then asked to surrender his phone and laptop to help in investigating the matter and was further required to leave the office for two days as the investigations were conducted.
He complied without a fight.
“Despite this being an unfair and unjustified intrusion and violation of my privacy, I gave him my phone as my conscience was clear,” Mr Ndung’u recalled in an interview with Business Daily last year.
The investigation took longer than he expected and after waiting for what he thought was enough time, he wrote to Trevor Hoole, the chief executive of KPMG-Southern Africa raising his concerns about the treatment from the local CEO.
The move made the CEO and two other partners call for an informal meeting where he was asked to resign in exchange for a financial settlement.
He rejected the proposal and what followed a few months later was a meeting of KPMG Africa in January 2017, KPMG (EA) where the members voted to remove him as a partner.
He moved to court and in March 2019, an arbitrator, John Ohaga ruled that he be compensated for the wrongful removal.
The audit firm challenged the award and in January 2021, Justice Francis Tuiyott (now Court of Appeal judge) reduced the amount to Sh379.03 million, which comprised profits, special and aggravated damages.
“I find and hold that the claimant has suffered loss and damage as a result of the conduct of the respondents towards him since the commencement of investigations against him from October 3, 2016, culminating in his purported compulsory retirement on January 13, 2017, and the announcement,” Justice Tuiyott ruled in March 2021.
Last week, High Court judge David Majanja delivered a ruling enforcing the award plus costs. During the hearing, Mr Ndung’u confirmed that he received part of the payment and $1,422,822 (About Sh177 million) was yet to be settled.
KPMG, which initially opposed the enforcement, said since the appeal has already been determined, the court should take into account the amount that has already been paid to Mr Ndung’u.
“Since the award is not being challenged as there is no pending application to set aside, then what follows is its automatic recognition and enforcement,” Justice Majanja said. The judge also awarded Mr Ndung’u Sh70,000 as the cost of the case.
Another case, in which Mr Ndung’u is accusing KPMG International of failing to accord him the necessary support and protection in the face of injustices that KPMG Kenya, is pending before the High Court.
