Former international footballer turned goalkeeper trainer John Busolo has lost a case against AFC Leopards after the Employment and Labour Relations Court ruled that the matter, in which he sought Sh3.7 million against the club should have been referred to arbitration.
Busolo had sued the club for illegal sacking after AFC Leopards failed to pay him his dues and relating him to train the youth against his 2015 contract.
Justice James Rika said although there was no doubt that Busolo and the club entered into a contract on January 4, 2015- there was a clause in the agreement that stipulated that any dispute should be settled through arbitration, if it cannot be resolved at the management level.
“The Claimant (Busolo) has shown through his pleadings, documents and evidence, that he has genuine grievances against the Respondent, but has applied for redress, before the wrong dispute settlement forum,” the judge said.
The former Kenya international is currently a coach and goalkeeper, residing in the UK.
The Club had employed him as a goalkeeper trainer for a renewable contract of two years and earning a net salary was Sh100,000 monthly.
The contract further stated that the salary would not delay beyond the 10th day of each month.
He was also entitled to a bonus of Sh10,000 for every win secured by the Club.
Immediately he was employed, Busolo said the Club defaulted in payment of his salary and in January 2016, he was not paid his salary.
Subsequently, he was paid less than had been agreed.
On 4th April 2016, barely four months into the contract, the Head Coach, Mr Jacky Minnaert allegedly told him that he was not going to continue working with him.
The coach then hired his own goalkeeper trainer, a move that saw Busolo relegated to training of the youth team, contrary to his contract.
On July 8, 2016, he said his salary had not been deposited in his bank account. He then called the Club’s Secretary-General, who informed him, that his contract had been terminated.
He was advised to visit the head office, and collect his termination letter, which he did but wasn’t given the letter.
Busolo then considered that the Club had terminated his contract unfairly and unlawfully, and filed the claim in court in May 2018.
In total, he sought payment of Sh3.7 million and a certificate of service.
The Club in response submitted that Busolo deserted his job and asked the court to dismiss the claim.
The court had at some point, referred the matter to mediation but the talks failed.
The judge noted that Clause K of his contract has a valid dispute resolution agreement.
The resolution, the judge observed, has a three-step dispute resolution mechanism and the court is not included.
“The Claimant did not explain to the Court why, in light of his rejection of the mandate of the Court through his contract of employment, he brought this Claim before the Court,” said the judge.
The Court does not have jurisdiction to adjudicate, or mediate through its annexed mediation, as it purported to do.
“In the end, the result is the same. The Court does not have jurisdiction,” Justice Rika said.
Justice Rika noted that in its heyday , AFC Leopards Sports Club, was a high-flying football team, which sent shivers down the spines of its competitors in Kenya, East Africa and Africa.
But over the years, “it appears to have become an average football team, and more of a prominent litigant, in claims brought in this Court by its ex-Employees, former footballers, who were part of its glorious past”.
The claims, Justice Rika observed are on failure by the Club to meet its contractual obligations, to its illustrious footballers.
