Court halts transfer of teachers from North-Eastern

The Employment and Labour Relations Court has issued a temporary order barring the transfer of teachers from Wajir, Mandera and Garissa counties.

In a ruling issued on Tuesday, Justice Hellen Wasilwa also directed the Teachers Service Commission (TSC), its CEO Nancy Macharia and the Attorney General to file their responses within seven days.

In a case filed by advocate Hussein Yarrow, the court heard that TSC had transferred non-local teachers in the three counties, a move he termed as discriminatory and unconstitutional.

The lawyer said the teachers’ employer had moved about 1,300 non-local teachers from Garissa and a further 1,600 in both Wajir and Mandera.

Mr Yarrow said TSC should have considered the best interest of the children before moving the teachers. He added that the mass transfers have affected areas which did not experience terror attacks.

According to Mr Yarrow, the attack that led to TSC's move happened in a far-flung border area in Garissa County and it was unreasonable to move teachers in other areas which have not been affected.

“The transfers have occasioned untold suffering to school children and has brought the education sector to a standstill,” he said, adding that the reasons for the move are exaggerated because there are other non-local professionals working in other sectors such as health.

TSC started transferring teachers following an attack in Kamuthe area, Garissa County where three non-local teachers were targeted and killed.

Speaking in Parliament, Ms Macharia said 42 teachers have been killed in similar attacks since 2014.

Justice Wasilwa directed that the matter be mentioned on March 12.