The Employment and Labour Relations Court in Nakuru has ordered Maasai Mara University to pay Ksh2.5 million in salary arrears to a driver who was suspended over the infamous Ksh177 million Mara Heist corruption scandal.
Hassan Abdi Noor, a senior driver at the university, was among those charged in 2020 alongside Vice Chancellor Mary Walingo and four other top officials. The case accused them of misappropriating university funds. Others implicated included Deputy Vice Chancellor for Administration Somon Kasaine Ole Seno, Deputy Vice Chancellor for Finance and Planning John Almadi Obere, and former acting Deputy Vice Chancellor for Academic and Student Affairs Anacklet Biket Okumu.
However, in March 2024, the High Court dismissed the criminal proceedings against them, effectively clearing their names. Despite his acquittal, Noor claimed the university refused to reinstate his salary and benefits, leaving him in financial limbo.
In a petition filed on October 9, 2024, Noor explained that the university suspended him on August 28, 2020, following a media exposé which detailed corruption at the institution between January 2016 and July 2019. He argued that even after the court dropped the charges, the university failed to reinstate him, cutting off his income and financial security.
Noor stated that his unpaid salary had accumulated to Ksh2,526,244 and continued to grow. He described the situation as financially and emotionally draining, accusing the university of unfairly withholding his wages despite his cleared record.
“The applicant continues to suffer financial, mental, and psychological strain due to the respondent’s unfair and unreasonable refusal to reinstate him to employment with full salary,” Noor said in his application.
Justice Anna Ngibuini Mwaure, in her ruling last Friday, criticized the university for its failure to resolve the matter, calling the indefinite suspension without explanation an unfair labor practice.
She noted that the university had ample time to hold a disciplinary hearing and determine Noor’s fate rather than leaving him in prolonged uncertainty. The judge ordered the university to immediately reinstate his full salary as the court continues to hear his petition, in which he also seeks reinstatement to his previous position.
