When former Family Bank Managing Director Peter Munyiri Maina refused to take the Sh30.6 million awarded to him by the Employment and Labour Relations Court over six years ago, he had set his sights on growing the money by 86.1 percent to Sh57.06 million.
That was on June 14, 2019. Fast forward to November 28, 2025, and the Court of Appeal has delivered its verdict: it remains Sh30.6 million. The gist of the legal battle centred on the rate the bank used to calculate his five-year gratuity.
While confirming the Sh30.6 million gratuity, the court also declined to award him any interest. In essence, inflation has undercut the economist and career banker, serving him a stark reminder of the time value of money—a shilling today is worth more than a shilling tomorrow. Or, as the old adage goes, a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.
“It was the appellant’s (Mr Munyiri) view that he was entitled to interest at court rates from 14th July 2016 when the gratuity became due and payable or, in the alternative, at the ruling rate of interest of Treasury bonds, where he could have invested the money,” the Court of Appeal said.
Mr Munyiri joined Family Bank on July 15, 2011, as the Managing Director and CEO on a five-year contract and exited on July 14, 2016, at the end of the contract, entitling him to gratuity. However, he differed with the lender over the applicable rate.
While he was pushing for a gratuity of 31 percent of gross pay, Family Bank pegged it at 18 percent. The legal battle was first decided in 2019, but Mr Munyiri appealed seeking a higher rate, award of costs of the suit, and interest.
Family Bank told the court that it could not have paid Mr Munyiri gratuity in 2016 because the gratuity due “had neither been settled nor agreed upon” and that he “hurriedly” filed the claim while they were trying to establish and agree on the applicable rates.
Mr Munyiri’s tenure saw the tier II lender’s performance rise before being shaken by the Sh791 million National Youth Service scandal of 2015. The lender was forced to part ways with nine managers and fined over the handling of the bulk of the money.
In the Munyiri legal battle with his former employer, the Court of Appeal sided with the bank, with the judge saying that the two parties had not agreed on the applicable rate of gratuity and therefore there was no basis for calculating the interest.
“In these circumstances, it cannot be said that the respondent (Family Bank) wrongfully denied the appellant the money he was entitled to. In terms of rule 29(3) of the Employment and Labour Relations Court (Procedure) Rules, there was also no basis for awarding interest for the period before the filing of the suit,” said the judge.
The Court of Appeal reminded Mr Munyiri of a 2018 High Court case, which stated the principles for awarding interest, including a requirement that the parties must have agreed on the rate of interest.
The court’s refusal to award interest means that inflation has eroded the real value of Munyiri’s payout over the six years.
In practical terms, the money he might have hoped to grow has lost significant purchasing power now.
Mr Munyiri’s stake in Family Bank was 10.22 million shares or 0.82 percent of the lender at the end of 2015, which marked his last full year at the bank.
When he took over, the bank had a net profit of around Sh391 million and assets of Sh20.2 billion. By 2015, before the NYS scandal, the bank’s net profit had surged to Sh1.98 billion before falling to Sh352.3 million the following year.
Customer deposits had grown from Sh21 billion in 2011 to Sh62.7 billion in 2015 before falling to Sh41.39 billion as the NYS scandal shook the confidence of depositors.
“During my tenure as Family Bank MD, I managed to change it to be Kenya's fastest-growing bank and created its new business model anchored on key growth pillars,” he once said.
Mr Munyiri has worked for several big banks in Kenya. He is the former deputy group chief executive of KCB Bank Kenya, and also once served as the general manager of Co-operative Bank of Kenya. He has also held executive positions at Standard Chartered Bank and Barclays Bank of Kenya (now Absa Bank Kenya).
He holds a Head of State Commendations and an Order of the Golden Warrior for his contributions to the growth of the Kenyan banking industry and the transformation of small businesses in East Africa through financial intermediation.
Mr Munyiri holds a BA Honors degree in Economics from the University of Nairobi and an executive MBA from Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology.
He is an associate member of the Chartered Institute of Bankers UK, a fellow of the Kenya Institute of Bankers, and an alumnus of several institutions, including Oxford University and Strathmore Business School.
He was appointed chairperson of the National Standards Council— the policy-setting body of the Kenya Bureau of Standards—by the President.
Mr Munyiri ventured into politics and contested to become the Nyeri County governor in the 2022 elections, drawing on his banking background and promise of economic transformation. However, he did not win.
In June 2023, President William Ruto appointed him the chairman of the National Standards Council— the policy-setting body of the Kenya Bureau of Standards — up to last year.
