- The pay cut affected officers who were being paid salaries equivalent to the rank of inspector but were downgraded to the rank of constable.
- Officials argued if 1,774 graduate officers excluding 335 prison officers are paid as inspectors of police then the government will require Sh928 million annually.
A group of graduate police officers have received a boost after part of their salaries was reinstated and backdated.
This follows a court order that they get back their salaries as the move to reduce the same was illegal.
The officers are set to get almost Sh400,000 each in arrears.
Their employer, the National Police Service Commission, ordered that the salaries be backdated to the date of salary reduction.
Chairman Eliud Kinuthia said in an internal memo dated October 3 as he withdrew an older one that had ordered the reduction of the monies.
“For avoidance of doubt, the reinstatement of remuneration is in respect of graduate constables, who were earning the enhanced salary of an inspector of police before the implementation of the circular," the circular read.
He further said the arrears should be backdated to the date of salary reduction without the loss of any benefit.
The affected officers had moved to court to oppose a move by the police authorities to reduce their salaries.
Justice Mathew Nduma Nderi of the employment and labour relations court directed the Inspector General of police and the NPSC to continue paying graduate officers their consolidated salary.
This, he says, is equivalent to that of individuals in Job Group J, which they were earning prior to the “unilateral, unreasonable and unlawful” decision to reduce their pay.
“An order prohibiting the first and second respondents, either by themselves, their agents, or servants, from in any manner reducing graduate officers’ pay, the subject of this application, from Job Group J to Job Group F, as in the letter dated November 17, 2021, issued by the 1st respondent, is issued,” Nderi said.
When they received their November 2021 salaries, the officers were shocked with the reduction at large.
The pay cut affected officers who were being paid salaries equivalent to the rank of inspector but were downgraded to the rank of constable.
The police authorities argued that the slashing of the salaries was informed by the amendment of the NPSC Act 3 of 2014.
The amendment allowed the commission, on the recommendation of the IG, to review all matters relating to the human resource policies of members of the service.
It also allows the commission, with the advise of the Salaries and Remuneration Commission, to determine the appropriate remuneration and benefits for the staff.
However, justice Nderi said both the IG and the NPSC relied on the said provisions to justify the reduction in rank and salary of the applicants, yet they were appointed prior to the review of the Act.
A police inspector earns a basic salary of Sh57,300. This includes officers who graduated before 2016, while the non-graduate in job group F earn a basic of Sh31,000.
They also enjoy a monthly house allowance of Sh24,950, while those in the constable rank earn Sh14,300.
The group also get risk allowances of Sh11,000 while the constables in job group F pocket Sh9,000 monthly.
Under the same pack, the inspectors and constables also earn a flat rate of Sh4,000 as commuter allowance.
The group went to court first in March 2018 protesting the move to have their salaries slashed and won the case.
The commission in 2019 protested the order to pay police constables who hold university degree certificates a salary equivalent to their seniors in the rank of inspectors of police.
Kinuthia and IG Hilary Mutyambai released a joint statement stating that if 1,774 graduate officers excluding 335 prison officers are paid as inspectors of police then it would have serious implications.
They said the government will require Sh928 million annually to service the new wage bill for services not rendered.
They also said the need for graduates cannot be determined midway but only at recruitment time and therefore the new move is dishonest on the side of police officers.
They further argued the IG had discovered irregular salary upgrades in the service payroll based on the acquisition of degree certificates by officers without following due process.
They said there is a procedure to be followed for officers pursuing degree courses after recruitment, which include seeking approval from the service.
(Edited by Bilha Makokha)