Police commission, IG sued in pay row
Two graduate police officers have sued the Inspector General of Police (IG) and the National Police Service Commission (NPSC) for slashing their salaries without consultation.
John Kariuki and Meshack Mutukho accuse the IG and the commission of reducing salaries of graduate officers recruited in 2013, from Job Group
J to Job Group F.
The police officers had their salaries reduced following a prolonged row over graduate police constables who were earning a salary of the officer
of the rank of an inspector.
Through lawyer Danstan Omari, the two say at the time of recruitment, there was a circular that anybody joining the service with a degree automatically gets the salary of a cadet police officer.
“Many of our clients took loans to start pursuing their degrees and once they got their degrees, they were allowed to receive salaries of police inspectors,” stated Omari yesterday in a press briefing.
The officers in court documents say they joined the services as graduates, having joined the service after successful completion of their undergraduate studies in their respective universities.
“We were posted to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations
offices in 2014, where we have been to date carrying their duties as general investigators in Job Group J,” they say in court documents.
It is their case that they have been enjoying Sh1,700 increment per year until when their basic salary was reduced to that of officers in Job Group F
in March 2018.
In April 2018 however, the commission restored their pay to that of persons in Job Group J plus all that had accrued were paid.
They say they continued to enjoy their pay in Job Group J up to and until November 2021 when they again realised their pay had been reduced to that of employees in Job Group F.
“The changes in payment are affecting all the graduates’ officers who were recruited in the year 2013 and have not been promoted to the ranks of inspector,” they say in court documents.
It is their contention that there was no communication that the commission would reduce their salary from Job Group J to Job Group F, as the changes were noted on their respective payslips.
They want the court to declare the commission and the IG decision to reduce salaries of graduate officers recruited in 2013 from Job Group J to Job Group F offends the constitution and discriminates against them.
