High Court Halts Controversial IG Koome Police Promotions
The High Court has temporarily halted the contested and controversial promotions of 514 senior police officers by Inspector General of Police Japheth Koome.
To quell further discontent within the Police Force, Justice Byram Ongayo of the Employment and Labour Relations Court (ELRC) ordered the National Police Service Commission to immediately convene a meeting of all parties “to amicably resolve the dispute and settle the matter outside of court.”
The judge ordered that any settlement agreement will be recorded in court and the case will be marked as resolved.
The orders were issued in response to a Certificate of Urgency filed by Senator Okiya Omtatah Okoit of Busia and activist Michael Kojo Otieno against IG Koome and the Attorney General.
Okiya told Justice Ongaya that Mr. Koome usurped the roles of the National Police Service Commission (NPSC), the legally mandated body to elevate officers from one grade to the next based on merit.
Mr. Okiya argued that Mr. Koome’s directive to the promoted officers not to apply for the positions advertised by the NPSC in the press violates the law and constitution and should be voided.
Mr. Okiya pleaded with the judge to intervene to save the face of the Police Force and quell the growing discontent within the agency, which is mandated to serve all without discrimination under the motto “Utumishi kwa Wote”
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The senator petitioned the court to nullify the promotions because they were carried out in complete disregard for the law and regulations of the Force.
My Okiya and Mr. Otieno urged the court to suspend the promotions so that the affected officers can continue to serve in their former positions while he presses for orders to nullify and permanently prohibit Mr. Koome from promoting officers in complete disregard of the Constitution and existing police regulations governing promotions in the police force.
Additionaly to Mr. Koome and the Attorney General, Mr. Okiya has been named as interested parties NPSC, the National Police Service (NPS), and the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA).
In his decision, Justice Ongaya declared the matter to be an emergency. In addition, the judge issued orders suspending the promotions of 514 officers pending the hearing and conclusion of the Okiya case.
“Until the inter partes hearing of the application and further orders by the court, the promotions affecting 514 police officers said to have been unilaterally implemented on June 5, 2023, in the National Police Service are stayed.”
In addition, the judge stayed the implementation of the Memorandum issued by Mr. Koome on June 9, 2023, prohibiting police officers from applying for the 514 vacancies in the NPS that had already been advertised in the press by the NPSC.
The judge ordered that the case be brought up again on June 29, 2023, for further instructions.
High Court Halts Controversial IG Koome Police Promotions
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