TSC boss Lengoiboini seeks to reverse court order committing him to prison

NAKURU: Over 52,000 retired teachers who are claiming Sh42.3 billion in salary arrears and pension from the Government will have to wait longer for the High Court in Nakuru to decide on their claim.

The teachers, who retired in 1997, had flocked the court to hear a case in which Teachers Service Commission (TSC) boss Gabriel Lengoiboini is fighting his committal to Kamiti Maximum Prison for contempt.

But they left dejected after the court said it would rule on his committal to jail on July 30 for not paying their dues. By that time, Mr Lengoiboni is expected to have left office after expiry of his tenure.

Lengoiboni Thursday argued he had done as ordered by the courts through a decree in 2012 that required him to pay or liaise with the Director of Pensions to pay the retirees' pensions and salary arrears. The money was to be calculated based on a salary increment as agreed between the Kenya National Teachers Union (Knut) and TSC in 1997.

SEVEN TIMES

Lengoiboni was committed to civil jail in May 2014 but the committal orders issued to the Inspector General of Police to enforce have been lifted seven times.

Through lawyer Paul Nyamodi, the TSC boss said he had liaised not only with the Director of Pensions as ordered, but with over five other Government agencies, including the Attorney General, Cabinet Secretary for Finance Henry Rotich and the Controller of Budget.

Mr Nyamodi produced some of correspondence exchanged between Lengoiboni and the relevant Government agencies to support his case.

Nyamodi claimed the retired teachers filed two consecutive suits (Judicial Review 7/12 and 18/12) praying for the same orders, which later varied the contents of the decree from 'pay or liaise' to just 'pay'.

But the retired teachers' lawyer, Dominic Kimata, put up a spirited fight and accused Nyamodi of basing his argument on academics rather than reality, and attempting to render the judgement of an honourable court senseless.

Mr Kimata submitted that there had been collusion by Government agencies to defeat justice and deny the retirees a peaceful retirement.

"We have been to various courts, even the Supreme Court, over similar matters as captured in the judgement and preceding judges and no question of variation was ever raised," Kimata said.

He contended that Lengoiboni was attempting to "invoke English" to evade justice.

"It is cardinal grounds of law that a judgement of court cannot be made in vain. I am not an Englishman but to interpret the 'or' to mean he has a choice other than to pay should not be adopted by this honourable court," Kimata said.