The Employment and Labour Relations Court has quashed the decision by the Inspector General of Police and National Police Service to reduce graduate officers’ pay.
Justice Mathews Nduma also declared the unilateral decision by the IG and NPS to reduce graduate police officers’ pay from job group J to group F was unreasonable and unlawful.
“An order of certiorari to bring into Employment and Labour Relations court for purposes of quashing the decision to reduce graduate officers pay from job group J to job group F as reviewed in November 2021 payslip is issued,” the judge ruled.
The IG and NPS have also been compelled to pay or continue to pay graduate police officers salary equivalent to individuals in job group J as they used to earn prior to the unreasonable and unlawful decision to reduce their pay.
The court further prohibited the two respondents, either by themselves, their agents or servants from in any manner reducing graduate officers’ pay from Job group J to group F as in the letter dated 17th November 2021 issued by the IG.
In the case, three graduate officers, Ayubu Mathenge, Mbusiro Dorothy and Robinson Cheruiyot moved to court seeking a declaration that the decision by the IG and the NPS to reduce the pay of graduate officers recruited in 2013 from group J to F.
The applicants claimed that the decision offends the constitution together with section 4 of the Fair Administrative Action, 2015.
They argued that the IG, by a letter dated 17th November 2021 addressed to the deputy IG directed that the graduate officers’ salary be reduced from that earned in job group J to that earned in group F and effectively demoted them.
According to the officers, the said directive was irregular, unlawful, arbitrary and issued in excess of authority since under Section 10 the NPS Act, which provides for the functions of the IG and does not include the power to hire, fine or demote members on NPS.
They court heard that the duty to recruit, promote and demote members of NPS lies within the functions of the National Police Service Commission and the Commission did not delegate any of its powers of demotion in writing to the IG before the impugned action was taken.
