By William Madouk
Legal representative of UAP Insurance Company has submitted a formal legal objection and defense statement to Judge Francis Amum of the Juba High Court.
This development follows the court’s decision last week to adjourn the initial hearing regarding a labour case involving former employees of the company.
Advocate Malith David, the defence attorney for UAP, addressed the media after the submission, stating, “Today, we have a session on the reply to the statement of the plaintiff, the reply that came today from UAP insurance company is a legal objection and the statement of defense.”
“We receive them [legal objection] and we are going to reply to the legal objection and statement of defense and the next session that has been set for Oct 9,” David noted.
The Lawyer explained that a legal objection is a formal document that the defense barrister raises when objecting to a legal suit.
After reviewing the legal documents, Judge Amum rescheduled the court hearing for October 9, 2024, allowing both parties additional time to prepare their cases.
In October last year, UAP and its national employees were in dispute over unequal treatment and differing wages for nationals compared to their foreign expatriate counterparts.
That forced about 70 national staff to stage a sit-in strike, bringing the UAP business to a standstill.
UAP Insurance firm dismissed at least ten national staff for calling for improved pay. This was contrary to the Ministry of Labor’s order calling for the reinstatement of 10 fired staff.
This, however, forced the UAP National Staff Association (UNSA) to initiate a legal case against the insurance firm.
Labor verdict
Luka Nyarsuk Nason, Chairman of the Labor Advisory Council, in a letter dated September 29, 2023, asked the UAP management to also put on hold all administrative measures taken against staff.
In October, the Ministry of Labor delivered a long-awaited verdict against the pitting brawl between the UAP insurance management and national staff over unfair treatment and salary structure.
Mary Hillary Wani, the undersecretary in the Ministry of Labor on the resolution of the dispute over UAP national staff grievances, directed the UAP firm to instantly reinstate 10 national employees who were axed.
According to the labour ministry, positions for UAP staff who are physically working in Kenya will be advertised and nationalized.
However, this outlet establishes that none of the Ministry of Labor’s verdicts had been implemented by the UAP Company.