CDH Conversations

Unions have extensive rights under South African law. The rights of a union to bargain was however in 2020 curtailed by the Constitutional Court when the court found that a union was restricted to organising within the scope of its constitution. But can a union represent its members in litigation processes? This is where the members are employed in an industry which falls outside the scope of the unions constitution. The Labour Appeal Court has recently considered this question which is discussed in this podcast, by Imraan Mahomed and Mbulelo Mango.

Every month CDH Kenya Partner, Njeri Wagacha, publishes a podcast 'Njeri Talks Law'. In this month's episode, she speaks to Chris Mureithi, a Growth, Personal & Corporate Development Consultant, on the importance of taking care of one's mental health, wellness in the workplace, and answers your questions on how to cope with competing interests at work. 

A fixed-term contract is a contract of service for a specified period of time. Despite having a clear end date, the Courts in Kenya have held that there are certain instances that an employee can have a legitimate expectation of the renewal of the contract. 

In this podcast, Christine Mugenyu and Janette Nyaga unpack these instances and also discuss the recent case of Keen Kleeners Limited v Kenya Plantation and Agricultural workers’ Union [2021] in which the Court of Appeal of Kenya set out in detail some of these exceptions. They also discuss some practical ways that employers can ensure that their fixed-term contracts do not turn into indefinite contracts

Kirsty de Sousa conducts an insightful conversation with Real Estate Law expert, John Webber where he answers a few questions and helps explain what a long-term lease is, how it is created, the ability to finance such acquisition, and the general expectation of lessees in such a property developments.

Every month CDH Kenya Partner Njeri Wagacha publishes a podcast 'Njeri Talks Law'. During this month's episode, Njeri discusses the current state of play, the trends and opportunities, as well as the approach to investing in Africa with private equity and venture capital experts, Sapna Shah of Novastar Ventures, Paul Ohaga of New Forests, and Asif Noorani of Investisseurs & Partenaires.

Recently, the Constitutional Court decided the case of Adam Damons v City of Cape Town, where an employee firefighter who was injured at work and sustained a disability (as a result of the employer's non-compliance with safety procedures) sought a position as a Senior Firefighter but was inhibited by the employer's Fire and Rescue Advancement Policy. The case raised important questions relating to unfair discrimination in the workplace, the place of the inherent requirements of the job defence and the scope of reasonable accommodation. Listen to the podcast by Employment Law experts Fiona Leppan and Kgodisho Phase

Every month CDH Kenya Partner Njeri Wagacha publishes a podcast 'Njeri Talks Law'. This month Njeri talks to Stephane Duproz, Executive Director of Cassava Technologies, the holding company for Africa Data Centres. Stephane talks about how datacenters are changing the way data is held, stored, and used and how datacenters are shaping Africa’s technological footprint.

Understanding the legal weight of appointment letters is very important to employers. Of even more importance is understanding the legal effect of unilaterally revoking an appointment letter before an employee reports to work. In this podcast Christine Mugenyu and Johnstone Odeya discuss the case of Kelvin Gatembo Kariuki & 4 others vs. Office of the Auditor-General & 2 others [2021] eKLR which sets out in detail the legal weight of appointment letters and the effect of an unilateral revocation of an appointment letter before an employee reports to work.

Every month CDH Kenya Partner, Njeri Wagacha publishes a podcast 'Njeri Talks Law'. This month Njeri talks to Lady Justice Effie Owuor. In honour of International Women's Day Njeri talks to Lady Justice Effie Owuor, Kenya's First female State Counsel, Magistrate, High Court Judge, and Court of Appeal Judge on her long legal career, navigating family life, and having it all.

An insightful talk where a seasoned real estate attorney explains servitudes as a whole and further provides insight into the different kinds of servitudes, how they are created, when they may be cancelled and how such cancellation occurs. As well as a little extra bit on cell phone towers and how such rights are created allowing companies to erect such towers on a property.