Arusha. The High Court, Njombe Sub-Registry, has granted a former Legal Officer I with Njombe District Council, Lusajo Mwakasege, leave to file an application for judicial review challenging his dismissal after finding that he has sufficient interest in the employment dispute.
Mwakasege was dismissed for being absent from work for more than five working days. However, he argues that his absence resulted from delays in receiving his transfer allowance after he was posted to a new duty station.
In a ruling delivered on July 23, 2026, Justice Victoria Nongwa gave him 14 days to file the substantive application seeking judicial review of the disciplinary process that led to the termination of his employment.
The application was filed against the Permanent Secretary in the President's Office, the Public Service Commission, Njombe District Council and the Attorney General.
Justice Nongwa said the court was satisfied that the applicant had demonstrated sufficient interest in the matter and had raised arguable issues regarding the legality of the disciplinary process that resulted in his dismissal.
Court records show that Mwakasege was transferred from Ubungo Municipal Council to Njombe District Council on February 22, 2019.
He contends that he was not paid his transfer allowance, which affected his ability to report to his new workstation. Instead of resolving the allowance dispute, the council instituted disciplinary proceedings against him for absenteeism.
According to the records, disciplinary charges were issued on July 3, 2019 and served on him on September 17, 2019. After responding to the charges and participating in the disciplinary process, he was informed through a letter dated November 5, 2019 that his employment had been terminated with effect from October 25, 2019.
He unsuccessfully appealed through the available administrative channels. A letter dated April 19, 2022, which was re-sent to him on April 9, 2025, informed him that his dismissal had been upheld and finalised by the President on March 26, 2022.
Having exhausted all administrative remedies, Mwakasege turned to the High Court seeking leave to institute judicial review proceedings.
He argues that the disciplinary process was flawed because no preliminary investigation was conducted, he was denied a fair hearing, was not invited to comment on the investigation committee's report before the final decision was made and was not given an opportunity to present mitigating factors before dismissal.
He also claims that the decision on his appeal was delivered outside the statutory 90-day period.
Justice Nongwa said that at the leave stage, an applicant is not required to prove the entire case but only to show that there are arguable grounds deserving judicial consideration.
The judge held that Mwakasege had met that threshold, noting that his allegations of procedural irregularities, including the lack of a preliminary investigation and denial of a fair hearing, warranted examination during the substantive hearing.
The court also noted that he had exhausted all available administrative remedies before seeking judicial review, making the High Court the appropriate forum to challenge the dismissal.
