A court dispute between a non-governmental organization and its former manager over allegations of falsifying data for HIV/Aids patients has cast doubt on the credibility of statistics on the disease.
Family Health International (FHI 360) fired Ms Everline Ashiono for allegedly submitting falsified data with 1,675 more patients.
The data, which was collected from Nakuru Provincial General Hospital over nine months, from October 2017 to June 2018, had been submitted to USAID and the National AIDS and STIs Control Program (Nascop).
However, discrepancies were discovered upon review of the data by the Nascop/Usaid audit team, leading to disciplinary action and the dismissal of Ms Ashiono by FHI 360 in April 2019.
Ms Ashiono was the organization's Chief of Party, her key responsibility being the primary liaison with USAID and management of the staff.
It was alleged that a daily activity register for the hospital had been created by a team known as HIV Service Delivery Support Activity (HSDSA) using reconstructed numbers.
The audit exercise showed that the returns provided to Usaid had 1,675 more patients than was reflected in the register kept by Nakuru Provincial General Hospital.
Ms Ashiono was aggrieved by the dismissal and she sued the organization seeking a compensation of Sh60 million in the form of damages for loss of employment, gratuity, salary and payment for pending leave days.
In the case filed at the Employment and Labour Relations court in Nairobi, she wanted the judge to declare that the termination was unfair and unlawful. Ms Ashiono, who had worked for the organization for 17 years, refuted the falsifying claims and said the errors in the data had been corrected.
She claimed that the organization had predetermined to dismiss her and that the disciplinary proceedings were only a formality since it immediately announced changes in the position she held.
But Justice Nelson Abuodha denied her the reliefs and ruled that the organization had valid reasons to terminate the employment.
He further ruled that her claim lacked merit as the termination process was carried out through a fair procedure and in accordance with the organization's HR policy and manual.
The judge said the organization acted reasonably in dismissing Ms Ashiono and the court had "no reason to disturb the decision to dismiss".
"There was clear and reasonable evidence that the data, which the claimant celebrated, was exaggerated and therefore compromised the integrity of the HIV data that the respondent could have relied on for its activities and programming," said Justice Abuodha in the verdict dated March 7, 2025.
On Ms Ashiono's claim that she was not furnished with the documents in support of the charges against her, the court found that she was fully aware of the issue in question which was data integrity and which she had earlier acknowledged in her email.
"It could therefore be safely assumed that the claimant was fully aware of the charges against her and what they entailed to adequately participate in the disciplinary hearing. The request for more documents was therefore just an attempt to buy time," said Justice Abuodha.
The court observed that FHI 360 organization placed a premium on data integrity for its activities and programming and Ms Ashiono, according to her job description, was responsible for ensuring that the data met the standards required. Hence, she could not pass the back to anyone else.
"An attempt to blame the Director for the inaccuracies in the data which she had celebrated did not add up. No evidence was tendered in court of any queries raised with the Director or staff under her supervision over the inaccuracy or otherwise of the data she celebrated," said the judge.
