BY KUSEKWA KUSEKWA
The High Court at Arusha has ordered a doctor, formerly with the Kisongo Charitable Health Centre, be paid six months salary as compensation for unfair termination and not 32 months salary as was allowed by the Commission for Mediation and Arbitration (CMA).
Judge Sylvester Kainda quashed the CMA decision and ordered Dr Jackson Mbise be paid a total of Sh 3.0 million calculated from the basic Sh 500,000 per month, as the fair and befitting redress.
“The award of thirty-two months’ salary is hereby set aside and substituted with an award of six months’ salary,” Judge Kainda declared in a ruling delivered recently.
During the hearing of the application for revisionary orders, Kisongo Charitable Health Centre had challenged the compensation sum, arguing that it was excessive and not supported by the applicable legal principles.
They also complained that CMA had misdirected themselves both in law and fact by failing to properly evaluate the evidence on record, particularly the existence of valid reasons for termination and the procedural steps allegedly taken before the action.
In his ruling, the judge pointed out that there was no evidence of any structured performance appraisal, no written warning for specific misconduct and no indication that Dr Mbise was heard before the decision against him was taken.
However, the Judge was quick to point out that while the termination was unfair, the automatic granting of compensation equal to the total salary for the entire unexpired contract period amounted to improper use of CMA’s discretionary powers for arbitration.
Dr Mbise was employed as the Doctor-in-Charge from December 1, 2024 under a three year contract, subject to three months probation. He was fired on March 26, 2025, allegedly for misconduct, insubordination, breach of confidentiality and poor performance. There was no immediate response from Dr Mbise and efforts to reach him proved futile.
