JUDGMENT OF THE COURT
By a letter of appointment dated 9th July, 1998, the appellant employed the respondent as its systems administrator at a monthly salary of Kshs.18, 000/-. He worked until December, 2007 when he voluntarily resigned from the said employment. By then, he had risen to the level of a Supervisor, earning a monthly salary of Kshs.125, 219/-. Upon resignation, he was paid his dues save for what he termed as gratuity amounting to Kshs.1, 126,971/-
Demands to the appellant for the payment of the aforesaid sum proved futile, prompting the respondent to mount Mombasa SRMCC No, 2652 of 2008 to force such payment. In its defence, the appellant contended that there existed no provision for payment of gratuity in the respondent’s letter of employment and that the terms and conditions of service relied on by the respondent created no contractual obligation for payment of such gratuity. To the contrary, it pleaded, the Management Terms and Conditions of Service were a mere policy d…