Businessman sues club for expelling him

 

A businessman has sued Parklands Sports Club for kicking him out in a way he says is unprocedural.

In a case before the High Court, Peter Mungai claims he was illegally kicked out for creating a Whatsapp group for members to raise concerns on the club’s management and standards.

On the other hand, the private club, through its trustees, says Mungai was suspended and then expelled for violating its rules, an alleged data breach and failure to apologise.

Mungai sued the club and its three trustees: Joseph Muriu, Anil Shah and Njeri Onyango.

Mungai says he joined the club in the early 1990s after his father introduced him. 

In the case before High Court Judge Chacha Mwita, Mungai alleges that services at the club have nosedived since 2019 and cites several occasions when members complained about food quality, cold showers, electricity disruptions, and lack of power backup.

Mungai further says he created a WhatsApp group called PSC Members Forum, to which he invited friends concerned about the club’s status.

This group, he claims, was within his and other member’s rights to voice concerns about how the club was being run.

“The respondent had established WhatsApp groups for one-way communication, functioning like a notice board, where members were not allowed to post or contribute. In these groups, the club maintained control, configuring them in a manner that exposed all members’ phone numbers publicly,” claimed Mungai.

In his response, Dr Muriu says he had admitted that he had violated the private club’s rules by forming a separate group.

According to Muriu, he had invited members to join the group, knowing that the notice was misleading as the group was not an official one.

“The said advertisement to the members of the club was in contravention of Rules Xii of the rules of the club which stipulates that no notice, paper placard, or advertisement written, printed or electronic shall be exhibited, put or in any way brought to the attention of the members without prior approval of the general manager,” replied Muriu.

Muriu further says that the club received information about the group and the members allegedly complained, was happening.

He claimed that they had tried alternative dispute resolution mechanism but it allegedly hit a dead end as the committee demanded that Mungai relinquishes control of the whatsapp group.

Mungai argues he was creating the group as the club had a restrictive communication approach. He says embers needed a modern space for open ventilation and discussion of pertinent issues.

He further alleged that he sent an email on September 18, 2022, allegedly raising what the group had cited but he never got any response or acknowledgement from the club management.

“The group members expressed satisfaction that someone was advocating for their concerns. As a result, the group’s popularity further increased,” says Mungai.

He further alleges that a year later, on October 6, 2023, he sent a second email raising the same issues and introducing new ones that the members had noted had risen over time.

Mungai says this email was also not responded to.

He told the court that a police officer summoned him to Kasarani Police Station, where he was informed that he was being accused of an offense under the Computer Cyber Crimes Act. The officer whom the club had hired, he says, questioned him about organizing a boycott.

“Two officers proceeded to show the petitioner accurate records of his phone logs and MPESA messages,” Mungai’s lawyer says.

Muriu denied that the club had breached Mungai’s rights.

The case will be heard on June 11, 2025.