- An October 2022 payslip seen by the Star shows that an affected officer’s deductions exceeded his total earnings by Sh7,600,which is a negative salary.
- While demanding compliance, the officers said that they have incurred huge financial losses and defaulted on loan repayments.
Graduate police officers are heading back to court to sue the chairman of the National Police Service Commission Eliud Kinuthia and the Inspector General of Police for non-payment of their salaries.
The officers want Kinuthia and top police chiefs summoned and punished for disrespecting a High Court ruling, which reinstated their salaries.
The officers said they have instructed their lawyer Charles Kanjama to issue a demand notice to the NPSC chairperson and the IG notifying them of the intended suit.
This would be if the their bosses fail to act on the orders of a court which reinstated the officers’ pay deducted 13 months ago after their job cadre was reviewed downwards.
"We have instructed our lawyer to issue the Inspector General and chairman NPSC a demand notice for their immediate action," one of the leaders of the affected officers, who asked not to be named over reprisals, told the Star.
The High Court in September ordered that graduate police officers be reinstated to job group 'J’ after they were demoted to job group 'F'.
Following the demotion, those who earned as high as Sh60,000 basic pay had their salaries reduced to Sh38,000 per month.
The cuts were instigated in March 2018 when the NPSC directed the implementation of the Career Progression Guidelines, 2016.
In April 2018, the service restored the pay and the officers continued to enjoy the terms and conditions of service until November last year when they were demoted again.
Judge Nduma Nderi, in a ruling that the officers are seeking to file contempt proceedings upon, concluded that there were illegalities in the demotion.
The judge said that the decision by the NPSC was unlawful, unreasonable and void for lack of due process and retrogressive application.
“A declaration is issued that the unilateral decision to reduce graduate officers’ pay from Job Group ‘J’ to Job Group ‘F’ was arbitrary, unreasonable and unlawful,” the judge said.
The judge also gave orders quashing the decision to reduce graduate officers' pay, and for the commission to continue paying the more than 900 affected officers at the initial rates.
Last year in November, the officers secured an order of stay of implementation of the demotion, which they say their bosses ignored.
“Leave is hereby granted as prayed by the applicants to operate as a stay of the decision of the NPSC and any further action taken with respect to the reduction of salaries and other benefits of graduate police constables,” the stay order read.
The defiance by top police chiefs prompted the affected officers to head to court where they secured orders reinstating their salaries before the November 21 demotion.
The officers, however, said that senior managers at Vigilance House have defied the orders, and that they have earned the reduced salary for the past 13 months.
This is despite Kinuthia having directed the acting IG Noor Gabow in an October 3 letter to reinstate the salaries and the accrued arrears without any loss of earnings to the affected officers.
“The Commission has advised the Acting Inspector General of Police, Kenya Police Service Deputy Inspector General and the Acting Director, Directorate of Criminal to pay 1,233 graduate police constables and non-commissioned officers (NCO's) a salary of Inspector of Police equivalent to job group J, backdated from November 1, 2021, the day the salary was stopped, without the loss of any benefits," the letter reads.
Kinuthia said the directive was in compliance with the court order issued on September 29, which rendered the demotion unlawful.
An October 2022 payslip seen by the Star shows that an affected officer’s deductions exceeded his total earnings by Sh7,600, which a negative salary.
While demanding compliance, the officers said that they have incurred huge financial losses and defaulted on loan repayments and payment of their utility bills.
During the tenure of Johnston Kavuludi in 2018, NPSC said it would not interfere with the graduate officer’s pay.
(edited by Amol Awuor)