Police officer who challenged transfer from Nairobi to Turkana wins landmark case

A police officer has won a landmark case against the Attorney General, National Police Service Commission (NPSC), and the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), who had attempted to transfer him from his Nairobi station to Turkana County, despite parenting a 7-year-old disabled child with special needs and care.

In declaring the transfer unfair, Justice Byram Ongaya of the Employment and Labour Relations Court ordered the Attorney General, NPSC, and DCI to develop a policy that regulates the transfer and other rights of police officers whose dependents are suffering from extreme forms of physical and cognitive disability, as well as other family responsibilities as envisaged in the judgment.

It all began in October 2024, when Inspector of Police Isaac Kirimi Kariuki filed a petition seeking a declaration from the Employment and Labour Relations Court that a transfer initiated by the NPSC and DCI from Nairobi to Lokitang, Turkana County, was unfair.

In his supporting affidavit sworn on 15th October 2024, Inspector Kariuki argued that the NPSC and the DCI exposed his 7-year-old son to permanent physical and cognitive disability.

He stated that the minor regularly attends a clinic program at Gertrude Children’s Hospital for physical, occupational, and speech therapy in conjunction with doctors from Kenyatta National Hospital.

Additionally, his son attends a special school known as Little Steps Special School, where fees have been subsidized. The child is reliant on the petitioner’s ability to provide constant psychosocial and financial support.

In their replying affidavits, through Peter Kiptanui Leley sworn on December 10, 2024, the NPSC and DCI argued that Inspector Kariuki was deployed to Lokitang, Turkana County, in line with the NPS Standing Orders.

These orders stipulate that officers, other than the Inspector General, Deputy Inspector Generals, and the DCI, may serve in any part of the country.

The DCI also noted that it had received a complaint dated September 2, 2024, from a member of the public against the petitioner.

The complaint alleged that Inspector Kariuki unlawfully obtained money from the complainant and tried to intimidate the complainant into withdrawing a civil case filed in court.

This was cited as the reason why the DCI decided to deploy him outside Nairobi, in light of allegations of threats against a witness.

In his determination, Justice Ongaya declared that the transfer of Inspector Kariuki from Nairobi to Lokitang violated the rights of the petitioner’s son with a developmental disability as enshrined in the Constitution.

The court further compelled the NPSC and DCI to always consider the needs of the petitioner’s son with a developmental disability when contemplating the transfer of the petitioner.

Additionally, the Attorney General, NPSC, and DCI were ordered to develop a policy regulating the transfer and other rights of police officers whose dependents suffer from extreme forms of physical and cognitive disability, as well as other family responsibilities, as outlined in this judgment.