Court Upholds Sacking of Kisumu Carrefour Manager Over Sh40,000 Supplier Cash

The Employment and Labour Relations Court has upheld the dismissal of a former Carrefour store manager in Kisumu, ruling that he breached the retailer's code of ethics by accepting undisclosed cash payments from a supplier.

The court found that Cornelius Bulimo received two equal payments of Sh20,000 (approximately $155), transferred via M-Pesa from a supplier identified in court records as Peter Mbui, creating a conflict of interest while he served as senior manager at the Kisumu branch.

The judgment stated that Bulimo clearly breached the code of ethics by accepting money from the respondent's supplier, adding that the code barred employees from deriving personal benefit through such relationships.

The court backed the decision by Majid Al Futtaim Hypermarkets Limited, which operates Carrefour in Kenya, to summarily dismiss Bulimo over the payments.

Bulimo joined the retailer in February 2016 as a section manager, later becoming Department Head in 2018 before his appointment as opening Store Manager for Carrefour Kisumu in June 2021. He was dismissed in March 2022.

He challenged his termination in court, arguing it followed a campaign of victimisation after he disagreed with an Area Manager during an earlier disciplinary process involving another employee.

Bulimo also alleged discrimination, denial of Covid-19 leave and wrongful suspension, and claimed he was coerced into signing a backdated final warning letter.

He sought more than Sh5 million (approximately $38,800) in compensation, covering unpaid salary, bonus, overtime, leave, public holiday pay and legal costs.

The retailer maintained that investigations established Bulimo received Sh20,000 on September 1, 2021, and a further Sh20,000 later that month, from a company supplying cosmetic products to Carrefour.

Court records showed the supplier described the payments as having been made on a friendly basis, though the court found no other reasonable interpretation of the transactions.

The judgment noted that Bulimo's employment contract required him to disclose any circumstances capable of creating an undisclosed conflict of interest, an obligation the court found he failed to meet.

On procedural grounds, the court found the company had complied with the Employment Act by issuing show-cause notices, conducting investigations, holding a disciplinary hearing and considering an appeal before dismissal.

The court dismissed Bulimo's suit in full but directed the retailer to settle any outstanding admitted terminal dues, including prorated salary, accrued leave and eligible public holiday pay not already paid.

The ruling follows a similar 2024 judgment involving Peter Nyingi Waweru, a former Carrefour Westgate branch manager dismissed after accepting Sh50,000 (approximately $388) from a stock supplier, in which the same court reached the same conclusion.