A judge of the Employment and Labour Relations Court has endorsed a decision by the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) to dismiss one of its officers who refused to declare his wealth as part of the ethics and integrity requirement.
Justice Benard Manani said KRA was justified to fire Theophilus Kiplimo for failing to submit his wealth declaration reports for the period 2019 to 2021, as well as for neglecting duty and insubordination.
Mr Kiplimo served within the KRA customs and border control department.
The judge rejected the argument that the failure to submit the documents, contrary to the directions by the employer, did not warrant the harsh penalty of dismissal.
Mr Kiplimo’s lawyer had argued that KRA could have resorted to less punitive measures, because Section 44 of the employment laws does not identify failure to submit wealth declaration forms as an act of gross misconduct.
“The position expressed by the counsel in this respect is erroneous. It is to be noted that the KRA’s case was that the claimant’s failure to submit the forms despite constant reminders amounted to insubordination through defiance of lawful instructions and negligence of duty both of which constitute gross misconduct under Section 44 of the Employment Act,” said the judge.
According to Justice Manani, “the court is not entitled to substitute an employer’s decision with its own merely because the decision is perceived as harsh”.
He noted that the record showed Mr Kiplimo was dismissed after he failed to respond to the charges against him and to attend the disciplinary session despite having been invited.
“The record also shows that the KRA informed the claimant of the right to appeal and that he did appeal. The record shows that the appeal was dismissed for failure to raise any new matters. I arrive at the conclusion that the claimant was accorded fair procedure in the process that led to closure of his employment with the KRA,” ruled Justice Manani.
KRA informed the court that submitting the wealth declaration forms is a statutory requirement and that the officer’s failure to submit them was a breach of the law.
The court heard that KRA officials had repeatedly reminded Mr Kiplimo of the need to submit the forms through telephone calls and email correspondence. However, he allegedly ignored these reminders.
The taxman contended that the conduct amounted to negligence of duty and insubordination through wilful disregard of lawful directives. As such, it said the officer was guilty of gross misconduct which made him liable to dismissal.
Mr Kiplimo, for his part, claimed that he had complied with the directive and submitted the documents in hard copy within the set timelines, but a few days later he was notified that the forms could not be found.
He resubmitted scanned copies via email in a bid to meet the timelines that had been set by the KRA.
However, in March 2022 he received a letter terminating his services allegedly for failing to submit the said wealth declaration forms.
He said the letter came as a surprise as he had not been notified of any impending disciplinary proceedings against him
