Chamber to pay CEO after return-to-work agreement

Chamber of Commerce and Industry chief executive Angela Ndambuki will be paid the perks forgone in the 14 months she was suspended from the helm of the traders lobby.

Richard Ngatia, the president of the Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KNCCI) told the Business Daily on Friday that Ms Ndambuki who resumed work in July is serving under her old contract.

“She had been suspended but we reviewed the case when I joined the chamber and we agreed that she should take up her job. It is not a new appointment; she is picking up the job she was given by the board of KNCCI in 2017,” said Mr Ngatia.

On Friday, Ms Ndambuki said “the chamber accepted to pay me for the period I was out of work. We agreed on a whole sum amount. I cannot disclose to you the exact figure because it’s a bit confidential”.

The board of KNCCI appointed Ms Ndambuki, a lawyer and a former member of girl band Tatuu, as the CEO in September 2017 to serve for three years.

In May 2018, she was pushed out under unclear circumstances after serving for only eight months. The former Chamber’s chairman, Kiprono Kittony, said that the board opted not to extend Ndambuki’s contract after probation, a surprise move that saw Ms Ndambuki challenge her dismissal in court.

Although her probation period was six months, she had been in office for eight months. She sued the board demanding hundreds of millions of shillings for wrongful termination of her contract, a case she later dropped to pick up her job. “Lawyers for both parties have agreed to settle all the outstanding issues out of court. It is the reason we agreed to have her back in office,” Mr Ngatia said.