KAMPALA, Uganda| Claire Nassali Mugabi petitioned the High Court Civil Division after she was dismissed from the position of Marketing Manager at the Uganda Tourism Board (UTB) by Lily Ajarova, UTB’s Chief Executive Officer.

According to court documents, Claire Nassali Mugabi was employed as a marketing manager at the Uganda Tourism Boardwas dismissed on grounds that she procured employment with the board by fraud, which is contrary to 2(3) of the Uganda Tourism Board human resource manual.

Nassali challenged the decision of dismissal of the Chief Executive Officer in court, arguing that her dismissal as the marketing manager was unfair, illegal and contrary to the 1995 constitution. She further declared that the application to hand over the property of the board was not followed after she was denied access to the premises of the Uganda Tourism Board.

Nassali, through her lawyer, Mirembe Maureen, explained that Lily Ajarova, UTB’s Chief Executive Officer, single-handedly terminated her contract without the approval of the Board of Directors as required under Clause 7.3 of the Uganda Tourism Board Human Resource Manual and that she overstepped her authority, thus violating the internal governance structure of the institution.

She submitted that in this case, judicial review is appropriate because the internal mechanism for termination with the board’s involvement was circumvented by the Uganda Tourism Board by creating an unfair process. She further added that Ajarova acted outside her powers; therefore, judicial intervention should be warranted to correct the procedural irregularity and protect Nassali’s employment rights.
warranted to correct the procedural irregularity and protect the applicant’s employment rights.

Nassali also asked the court to terminate Ajarova’s decision so that the matter is sent back to the board to ensure that proper disciplinary procedure is followed.

Counsel James Zeere, who represented Lily Ajarova, UTB’s Chief Executive Officer, argued that it is not viable, as Nassali’s complaint is not against the procedure followed by his client but rather her complaint is against the procedure and actions of the Uganda Tourism Board as the Chief Executive Officer.

Zeere further informed the court that Nassali was tasked by the Uganda Tourism Board to verify academic documents of all staff, but in the process of her verification exercise, the Uganda Tourism Board wrote to the National Council for Higher Education to verify her academic documents obtained from the University of Colorado Denver in the USA, and when she received a reply, the academic papers presented claimed to be from the University of Colorado were not genuine and dismissed Nassali from office. The dismissal was communicated to her by WhatsApp.

Justice Esther Nambayo held that the power to dismiss staff resided with the Board, not the CEO, and that the method of dismissal via WhatsApp was irrational and humiliating.

Justice Esther Nambayo issued orders of certiorari and mandamus (set aside the decision of the CEO), quashed the dismissal, reinstated Nassali with full pay, awarded UGX 5 million in general damages, and ordered the Uganda Tourism Board to pay costs.