The Employment and Labour Relations Court has sentenced the Registrar of Trade Unions Beatrice Mathenge to three months in prison or a fine of Sh 200,000 for contempt of court. The ruling, delivered by Justice James Rika on Friday, follows the Registrar’s failure to register the proposed Kenya Musicians Union represented by lawyer Kelly Malenya as ordered by the court in August 2023.
Justice Rika cited the Registrar for her “gut-wrenching contumacy” and for allowing herself to be influenced by “shadowy characters” rather than complying with the court’s orders.
“In explaining her obvious contempt of court, she gave various irrelevant narratives, which appear to compound rather than mitigate contempt. It has been noted from the outset that the Registrar is a lawyer and an officer of the court, which makes it difficult to understand why she has joined the bandwagon of Kenyan State apparatchiks, in serial disobedience of orders issued by the courts,” said Rika.
“She states that she received a copy of the judgment, but had not been able to peruse the same, due to pressure of work; she has a huge backlog of work, owing to the fact that she is the only technical officer in her office; she is holding the office in an acting capacity; she promised to register the Union in two weeks’ time; she found a lot of pending work in office, and prepared a work schedule which she is reviewing regularly; and that there was pressure from some officers of the State, not to register the Appellants’ Trade Union.”
Rika said the mitigation by Ms Mathenge was a sad showcase of a public officer who, displaying a gut-wrenching contumacy, had opted to treat a judgment like “a gold ring, in the snout of a pig”. The judge expressed regret that the Registrar had become a “serial contemnor,” recently convicted and sentenced to pay a fine of Sh100,000 or serve a one-month prison term in Appeal 087 of 2022.
In that appeal, she had failed to comply with a judgment on the registration of Kenya Medical Practitioners Pharmacists Dentists Union’s officials seven months ago. “The Registrar had given similar unacceptable explanations for noncompliance, claiming she was new in office and understaffed. She also pleaded for leniency as a first-time offender. The Registrar is therefore a repeat offender, who merits a stiffer penalty,” said Justice Rika.
The appellants in the Kenya Musicians Union case, John Katana Harrison, Juma Ode-Mba, George Odhiambo, and Martin Mururia, who are promoters of the proposed union, filed an application in November 2023 seeking to hold the Registrar accountable for not complying with the court’s directive.
The application filed through lawyer Malenya was supported by affidavits from the four appellants and Thomas Dayan, Deputy Secretary General of the International Federation of Musicians (FIM), who emphasized the international support for the union’s formation. Rika said the applicant’s lawyer, Malenya succeeded in convincing the court to dismiss an application by the Kenya Union of Entertainment and Music Industry Employees, which sought to join the suit as a third party, finding it to lack merit.
“What the intended interested party is asking the court to do, is to reopen, and re-hear its objection against the registration of the proposed Kenya Musicians Union. This matter was settled by the Court of Appeal,” he said. Lawyer Malenya was granted the liberty to initiate further contempt proceedings if the union’s registration continued to be delayed, also warning that any public officers interfering with the Registrar’s duties could be held in contempt.
The court ordered the Registrar to personally pay the costs of the application to the appellants. The case will be mentioned again on July 17, 2024, to assess compliance with the court’s orders and any further necessary actions.