Court summons Arachi over police failure to arrest Gabriel Lengoiboni

The High Court in Nakuru has summoned Acting Inspector General of Police Samuel Arachi to explain why police have failed to arrest Teachers Service Commission (TSC) Secretary Gabriel Lengoiboni.

Justice Janet Mulwa Monday directed Mr Arachi to appear in court on March 12. The Court had on February 20 committed Mr Lengoiboni to six months in jail for contempt of court.

Despite the orders, Lengoiboni is still a free man over a week after Justice Mulwa issued the ruling in a long standing dispute between a group of retired teachers and TSC.

Mulwa said court orders must be obeyed by all Kenyans to ensure courts dispense justice.

Lawyer Dominic Kimatta, representing the retired teachers, had earlier told the court that the failure to honour the orders amounted to impunity by Government officers.

Lengoiboni and TSC Pensions Director Ann Mugo had been accused of contempt following the commission's refusal to abide by an order issued in 2012.

On January 20, Mulwa gave Lengoiboni 30 days to release Sh16.7 billion to the retired teachers or risk jail in contempt. And on May 16 last year, the court committed Lengoiboni to six months in civil jail but suspended the orders after TSC promised to release the decreed sum to the thousands of retired teachers.

The contempt of court proceeding were instituted following a court order issued by the then Nakuru High Court Judge William Ouko in 2012 directing TSC to release Sh3.34 billion to the retired teachers in the 2011-2012 financial year.

The teachers who retired between 1997 and 2003 went to court in 2006 demanding for recalculation of their salaries and pension based on the Collective Bargaining Agreement entered by the Government and the Kenya National Union of Teachers after the 1997 teachers' strike.

The High Court in 2008 ruled that all retired teachers were covered by the 1997 agreement. TSC said it will cost the Government Sh151 billion to pay the retired teachers.