Former UNRA employees claim unlawful dismissal, go to court

One hundred and fifty one former employees of the Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA) have gone to the High Court in Kampala, seeking permission to sue their ex-employer for unlawful dismissal.

The Deputy Registrar Alex Ajiji heard the application presented by six of their representatives and said he will deliver a ruling on September 26 whether to allow them file a suit against UNRA.

The 151 led by Lyndon Dennis Kiyimba, a former supply officer with UNRA, want court orders compelling UNRA to compensate them over sh13 billion “for damages and terminal benefits for illegal retrenchment.”

Kiyimba and his colleagues accuse UNRA of denying them a hearing before terminating their running contracts in December last year, shortly after the appointment of Allen Kagina as the new Executive Director .

The aggrieved former employees include several directors, engineers and drivers.

They claim that after this omnibus restructuring, they cannot find employment anywhere “as they are perceived by the public to be thieves and fraudsters” even though none of them has been prosecuted by UNRA.

They therefore, through their lawyers Bakiza and company advocates, want court to allow them take on UNRA for non-payment of their salary arrears and any other retrenchment benefits related to their former contracts running up to November 2017.