An police officer fired for causing a road accident using a police vehicle while allegedly drunk has sued his bosses for unlawful termination.
In a petition before the Nyeri Employment and Labour Relations Court, former Police Constable (PC) Dickson Kibet has sued the National Police Service Commission, Inspector General of Police and Deputy Inspector General of Police.
Mr Kibet says the respondents did not conduct investigations into the accident that occurred on January 12, 2014 before sacking him.
The constable, who was working at Itabua police station in Embu at the time, has also faulted his bosses for failing to involve a disciplinary committee to pursue the case as required by law. Instead, he argues, he was arrested by a fellow police officer and presented before the Embu Law Courts where he was charged with four traffic-related offences.
Following the arraignment, his bosses suspended him from work until the traffic case in court was heard and determined.
A suspension letter dated January 25, 2018 from the County Police Headquarters in Embu shows that on the fateful day, Mr Kibet turned up for work at the station at 1.30 am while drunk. The letter reveals that he took the keys to the GKX96 Landrover Police vehicle and took off without authority.
“But while at the parking yard, the officer hit three stationary vehicles; another police vehicle registered as GKB631E, a Toyota Land Cruiser and a civilian motor vehicle,” reads part of the letter.
According to the document, immediately after the accident the police officer allegedly tried to escape but was restrained by a fellow officer who, upon searching him, recovered the vehicle’s keys in his pocket.
While appearing before the Embu magistrate’s court, he faced four counts of careless driving, driving a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol, taking a motor vehicle without consent and failing to renew his driver’s licence respectively.
But in his court documents, the police officer says that later on September 8, 2017, the magistrate found him guilty of three counts except that of driving under the influence of alcohol.
“In the judgement, the magistrate convicted me of the first, third and fourth counts and directed that I pay a fine of Sh30,000 for the offences after acquitting me of the charge of driving while drunk,” said PC Kibet.
But four months later he received the suspension letter informing him that he would only receive half his pay following the traffic charges in court.
“The suspension was to take effect as from September 2017 when the court judgement was delivered,” he told the court.
On July 15, 2019, he received another letter from the Deputy IG informing him that he had been dismissed from the police service without benefits.
The petitioner has now told Justice Njagi Marete that the traffic offences, which are lesser charges, should not have attracted such a heavy punishment.
PC Kibet says that according to Police Service Standing orders, the offence could have been dealt with by a subordinate disciplinary committee, had the Service opened an inquiry file to investigate the case.
He now wants the court to declare his removal from the police service a violation of his right to a fair administrative action and a breach to fair labour practices.
He has also requested Justice Marete to order the respondents to pay Sh513,000 as one year’s salary compensation for unlawful and unfair termination and another Sh940,500 being the unpaid salary of the 44 months he was on suspension.
He also wants them restrained from dismissing him from the Police Service.
The case will be heard on December 15. BY DAILY NATION