- The Employment and Labour Relations Court awarded 122 teachers Ksh100,000 each (Ksh12.2 million total) after ruling their reposting to Mandera County was unlawful and violated their right to fair administrative action.
- Justice Jemimah Keli nullified TSC’s decision declaring the teachers to have absconded duty and directed the commission to instead deploy them to Garissa County, excluding Hulugho, within 30 days.
- The court denied back pay for the period the teachers were away and granted TSC a 30-day stay on the compensation payment, though the redeployment order to Garissa still stands.
The Employment and Labour Relations Court has awarded 122 teachers Ksh100,000 each after ruling that their reposting to Mandera County was unlawful and infringed on their right to fair administrative action.
In a judgment delivered on Wednesday, July 29, Justice Jemimah Keli found in favour of the teachers in a case filed by the Kenya Teachers in Hardship and Arid Areas Welfare Association (KETHAWA) against the Teachers Service Commission (TSC).
The dispute arose after the teachers left their duty stations in Mandera over security concerns and later faced disciplinary action, with TSC directing them to return to the county.
KETHAWA had petitioned the court to stop the commission from redeploying the affected teachers to the North Eastern region pending the hearing and determination of the case.
Justice Keli held that the disciplinary proceedings were conducted unfairly and ruled that the teachers could not be deemed to have deserted their duty stations.
“The court noticed the petitioner’s (KETHAWA) allegations of insecurity in Mandera were valid, and it was unfair to repost them to the same schools in Mandera,” the judge noted.
The court held that the question of desertion no longer arose after finding that the disciplinary process was flawed and directing the affected teachers to resume duty.
However, the judge affirmed the Teachers Service Commission’s (TSC) mandate to manage and deploy teachers across the country. Justice Keli ruled that the commission was at liberty to transfer the affected teachers from Mandera to Garissa County, provided they were not redeployed to the areas where they had cited security concerns.
Court warns against branding entire North Eastern region as insecure
The judge also warned against portraying the entire North Eastern region as insecure, saying such a position could undermine the constitutional right of children in the region to access education.
“The court further upholds the right of the children in the Northeastern region to education, which is effected through teachers. It is disproportionate to condemn the entire Northeastern are insecure,” said the judge.
The court ordered the TSC to implement its decision to transfer the teachers to Garissa County, excluding the Hulugho area, in line with the government’s policy on the retention of public servants.
The judge also nullified the commission’s decision declaring the teachers to have absconded duty, as well as the subsequent directive reposting them to their former stations in Mandera County.
The court further awarded the teachers compensation after finding that the TSC had violated their constitutional right to fair administrative action.
ALSO READ:
CSOs give TSC 7-day ultimatum as only 34 of 34,000 promotion vacancies go to their cadre
Justice Keli ruled that the decision to redeploy the teachers to Mandera was made despite concerns about their safety, exposing them to a real threat to their right to life. The court awarded the teachers a total of Ksh12.2 million in compensation.
“The teachers are each awarded Ksh100,000 for vindication of their right to fair administrative actions for being reposted to Mandera when their safety as non-local teachers had not been guaranteed, posing a threat to their right to life,” Justice Keli ordered.
The court also awarded the petitioners the costs of the case but declined to order payment of salaries for the period the teachers were away from their duty stations, ruling that they were not entitled to wages for the time they did not work.
Justice Keli further granted the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) a 30-day stay on the payment of the compensation award after the commission sought additional time to comply with the judgment.
The stay does not, however, affect the order directing TSC to deploy the teachers to Garissa County. The commission was ordered to implement the deployment within 30 days.
The ruling allows TSC to carry out the deployment within its mandate while barring the commission from reposting the affected teachers to the same stations in Mandera County, which the court found posed legitimate security concerns.
By Frank Mugwe
You can also follow our social media pages on Twitter: Education News KE and Facebook: Education News Newspaper for timely updates.
>>> Click here to stay up-to-date with trending regional stories
>>> Click here to read more informed opinions on the country’s education landscape
