Kenya’s Employment and Labour Relations Court has awarded former Little Cab general manager Ronald Otieno Mahondo a total of USD 758,000 after finding he was unfairly dismissed and denied a promised equity stake. The ruling turns on a secretly recorded conversation in which Craft Silicon CEO Kamal Budhabhatti acknowledged granting Mahondo a 1 percent share. Justice Mathews Nduma deemed the recording admissible and decisive, concluding that the termination was orchestrated to prevent Mahondo from benefiting from the equity.
Who Is at the Center of the Case
Mahondo joined Little Cab, the ride-hailing unit of Nairobi-based fintech Craft Silicon, in April 2016 to help build the business from the ground up. He started with a monthly salary of about USD 1,860, which was later raised to roughly USD 2,630 as the service expanded. As part of his compensation, he said he was granted 1 percent ownership, with another 1 percent tied to performance milestones.
The Equity Promise
According to the record, the equity offer was discussed during recruitment and reiterated as Little Cab scaled operations across multiple cities and countries. Mahondo argued that leadership recognized his contribution to rapid growth yet never provided a countersigned contract reflecting the share grant. He maintained that the failure to document the agreement spurred a campaign to marginalize him and ultimately remove him.
Escalation and Dismissal
Relations deteriorated when Mahondo pressed for a formal copy of his contract that captured the equity. The court noted a series of disciplinary memos issued in quick succession before his termination in May 2017, describing the pattern as consistent with retaliation. Justice Nduma wrote that the sequence of actions supported the claim that the process was a pretext to avoid honoring the share grant.
The Secret Recording and Its Admissibility
Foreseeing an uneven process, Mahondo recorded meetings, including one in which Budhabhatti acknowledged the 1 percent stake. The court admitted the audio under Kenya’s Evidence Act and described it as credible, consistent, and verifiable. This evidence, the judge said, proved the equity promise beyond doubt and undermined the company’s assertions about performance shortcomings.
The Judgment and Monetary Awards
Justice Nduma awarded Mahondo USD 8,000 for unfair termination and USD 750,000 for the value of the 1 percent stake. The court adopted a USD 75 million valuation for Little Cab to derive the equity payout, which it characterized as a logical reflection of the company’s worth at the time. Combined, the awards total USD 758,000, a remedy the court said was commensurate with the contract breach and unfair process.
Company Position and Context
Craft Silicon argued that Mahondo was casual and unsystematic in managing suppliers and clashed with colleagues, asserting that his salary increase was administrative rather than performance-based. It said he was found guilty of gross misconduct but was normally terminated, and that the company paid about USD 4,900 in dues at exit. The court observed that the company did not directly refute the equity promise and noted allegations that another Little director engaged in threats and harassment as the documentation dispute intensified.
Little Cab’s Trajectory and Market Setting
Launched in 2016, Little Cab positioned itself as a homegrown competitor to Uber and Bolt with features such as mobile wallet payments, corporate ride solutions, and loyalty options. Mahondo told the court that Little’s value surged within a year as operations expanded, reflecting the execution asked of him when the equity package was proposed. That backdrop, he argued, made the promised ownership a central component of his compensation.
Implications for Kenya’s Startup Ecosystem
The decision reinforces that equity-based compensation is enforceable when supported by credible evidence, even if a countersigned document is missing. For startups competing for senior talent, the ruling signals that informal or partially documented promises can carry legal weight if substantiated. It also underscores the importance of clear paper trails and aligned governance when equity forms part of remuneration.
Mahondo’s victory rests on a recorded acknowledgment that the court found authentic and decisive. By upholding the equity grant and citing unfair termination, the judgment sets a reference point for employment and compensation disputes in Kenya’s technology sector. For founders and executives alike, the case is a prompt to document commitments rigorously and resolve disagreements before they escalate into costly litigation.
Source: The Kenyan Wall Street