By WILLIS OKETCH
The High Court has revoked an attempt by the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) to transfer an award winning school principal from Garissa Secondary in North Eastern Province to Mosorit Teachers Training College in Rift Valley Province.
A judge declared the transfer unconstitutional and, therefore, null and void.
The revocation was done on Friday after a year of legal proceedings. Harun Mohamed Yusuf won a presidential award for exemplary performance in 2010 and was also credited for the school’s exemplary performance and he has blamed his transfer on the immediate former PC for North Eastern Province, James ole Seriani, and powerful politicians.
He told the court through lawyer Evans Ondiek that his transfer was engineered by politicians in Ijara and Garissa districts opposed to his anti-corruption drive in Garissa Secondary School and Ijara Constituency.
On Friday, Justice Mumbi Ngugi stopped the transfer terming it unconstitutional because TSC did not act as independent body. She said evidence had been adduced to show the transfer was effected following a letter to TSC by Seriani.
“TSC is an independent body and is not subject to control by any person or authority,” said Justice Ngugi.
The judge said although TSC is independent under the Constitution and has power to transfer anyone under its employ, Yusuf’s transfer cannot be upheld because TSC came under the compulsion of the provincial administration in Garissa.
Yusuf filed a copy of a letter by Seriani in his role as chairman of the Provincial Education Board he wrote to TSC making allegations against Yusuf and seeking his transfer. A few days after the letter was delivered, Yusuf was transferred.
