75-year-old man's appeal to Saudi embassy over Sh96m court award

At 75 years old, Abdi Mohamed Abdullahi could happily rest in retirement, play with his grandchildren, or look after his animals as time passes.

Nevertheless, Abdi, who worked with the Royal Saudi Arabia Embassy in Nairobi, is frustrated in old age and in pain with his employer, with whom he diligently worked for a quarter century.

To him, mentioning the Saudi Embassy or Kenya’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs denotes a license of defiance. Abdi won an employment dispute against the embassy on July 19, 2019.

In a case where the embassy initially sought to settle out of court but then failed to respond, the Employment and Labour Relations Court awarded him USD 320 282 (Sh41 million) and Saudi Arabia Riyal 54,000 (Sh1.8 million at the current exchange rate).

The Judge further directed that the money be paid in two months, or else it would attract 14 per cent interest per annum from February 5, 2015, when he first filed the case.

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The embassy never appealed.

It is now five years. The money has attracted USD 403 555.22 (Sh51.9 million) and SAR 68040 (Sh2.3 million) in interest.

Abdi has all the orders from Kenya’s third arm of government, including tens of decrees paving the way for auctioning the embassy’s assets to recover the money.

He has repeatedly used diplomacy to settle the issue, writing to Foreign Affairs, which Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi heads, albeit without an answer. He has even separately hired auctioneers in a bid to recover his money.

However, auctioneers, as well as process servers, bolt whenever they set an eye on armed Kenyan police officers who man the embassy. One told the court he was denied entry to the gate to serve the court orders.

On the other hand, even with the court finding that the Embassy does not enjoy diplomatic immunity in employment cases, the ministry insists that it does.

The embassy has only gone so far as to inform him that the court order had been forwarded to it and that it would get back to him. He said he had been waiting for the ministry’s call for over a year.

He says his former employer’s failure to honour court orders is illegal and unfair to him. In contrast, Abdi adds, the ministry’s failure to intervene depicts helplessness in the wake of injustice.

He was hired as a translator sometime in 1995. Owing to his degrees in history and geography, he attracted the Saudis.

He grew along the ladder to become a senior researcher, a position he held until he left.

He was in the team brokering for peace in Somalia headed by former ambassador Bethuel Kiplagat.

Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) sponsored talks for peace in the Horn of Africa in 2002.

The travel expenses to and from Eldoret, where the team met, formed part of Abdi’s case. He narrated that for two years, he travelled daily, but despite being an embassy representative, he was never paid or reimbursed for his costs.

In his case, Abdi told the court that he was grossly underpaid. He also lamented that the embassy owed him USD 105.840 as salary arrears from his employment as a translator.

In addition, he stated, it had yet to pay him USD 129, 312 for being a researcher.  He also asked the court to force the embassy to release his personal effects, including books.

The court heard that sometimes Abdi had to work as late as 9pm while assisting those attending Hajj but was not paid overtime.

Abdi testified that he parted with the embassy when his grievances regarding payment were not addressed.

He claimed that the embassy instead terminated his employment in the public interest to cover the spiralling cost of running the embassy.

“For eight years, I was underpaid as the head of research and translation, and for six years, I was paid as a telephone operator instead of a translator. Instead of being paid my salary arrears, I was relieved of my duties through a notice sent to me,” he said.

He filed the case in 2015. Three years later, the embassy approached the court for consent. It had agreed to pay him USD 284,878 (Sh 36 million).

However, there needed to be an agreement about transport, house allowances, and overtime payment.

The embassy then went quiet. It never sent lawyers to represent it or a representative to defend its position in court.

Abdi holds onto the sweet victory from the courts but with bitterness. For five years, his employer decided to ignore it while his government silently watched and deployed officers to block him from enforcing its orders.