Lawyer Danston Mungatana has served Standard Group with a notice to sue over the sacking of Mwanaisha Chidzuga. Mr Mungatana, a former cabinet minister and MP for Garsen, wrote to the Standard informing the company of his intention to sue and seek compensation for wrongful dismissal of his sweetheart.
Ms Chidzuga, who is Mungatana’s wife, was on Tuesday handed a redundancy letter as she prepared for her Maisha na Isha programme on KTN2. The show had to be cancelled, leaving guests of the day stranded at the KTN studios on Mombasa Road.
It will be an interesting case to watch where a husband represents his wife in a legal contest against an employer. It won’t be the first in Kenya, though. Recently, Siaya Senator James Orengo was represented by his wife, Betty Murungi, when he was accused by the Ethics and Anti-C********n Commission of grabbing land.
She was one of the high-profile journalists to be fired by Standard Group in the ongoing restructuring that seeks to cut its payroll by 30%. It is understood that the group targets to lay off 90 journalists.
The sackings, which were preceded by a one month grace period for voluntary early retirement, have exposed Standard to litigation, with a number of laid off journalists planning to move to court either independently or through the Kenya Union of journalists.
“This is a delicate matter and our primary concern for now is the welfare of those affected by the purge,” said KUJ chairman Oscar Obonyo, who earlier took advantage of early voluntary retirement to leave the media house. “They must be adequately compensated. Nevertheless, not everything is going right and we shall strike at the right moment.”
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