Nairobi, Feb. 9 -- A Nairobi court has received a case where a former executive at Ecart Services Kenya Limited, the parent company of online retailer Jumia, claims to have been pushed out of his job partly because he doesn't speak French.

Mr James Njine Kamau, whose last posting was Chief Operations Officer (COO) and who left Jumia late last year, says in a case filed on Tuesday that Jumia's CEO once spoke to him about his preference for leaders who can speak French.

"On or about August 2025, the CEO summoned me to his office and intimated that I should consider seeking employment elsewhere, stating that he preferred French-speaking management personnel, as they were 'easier to deal with' than English-speaking colleagues," Mr Njine sta...