Suit challenging Covid jab order for workers certified as urgent

Lawyer Clement Koigi (Left) and Law Society of Kenya Council member Kipkoech Ngetich in Nakuru on August 19, 2021. [Daniel Chege, Standard]

The High Court in Nakuru has certified as urgent a suit challenging a government directive to have all civil servants get the Covid-19 jab.

Justice Teresia Matheka, on Friday having perused the application filed under a certificate of urgency, certified it as urgent and ordered that it be placed before the duty judge yesterday.

In the petition filed by lawyer Clement Koigi, through lawyer Kipkoech Ng’etich, the August 5 directive is said to be infringing on public officers’ right to privacy.

“I have perused the application under certificate of urgency. It is urgent. It be served by email. Parties to appear before duty judge on August 23, 2021,” directed Justice Matheka.

Despite the urgency, the suit will have to wait till Wednesday when it will be placed before the duty judge. Lawyer Koigi has sued Head of Public Service Joseph Kinyua, the Public Service Commission and the Ministry of Health. The Federation of Kenya Employers is listed as an interested party.

Koigi claims the directive amounts to making vaccination compulsory for all public officers. In the directive contained in a memo, all civil servants who will not have been vaccinated will be considered for disciplinary action and appropriate action taken against them.

The memo indicated that some public servants deliberately avoided being vaccinated to stay away from work under the guise of working from home, hence having a negative impact on service delivery.

Kinyua had directed all Principal Secretaries and accounting officers to ensure full implementation of the said decision. However, Koigi claims the decision limits the constitutional rights of public officers to life, equality and freedom from discrimination, human dignity, and security of the person as well as privacy.

He says the directive is not based on any law and the limitation is unreasonable and unjustifiable in an open and democratic society based on human dignity, equality and freedom. “The decision was made unilaterally by Head of Public Service without any public participation,” reads the suit papers.

Koigi wants the court to issue orders suspending the implementation of the decision contained in the letter dated August 5. On August 18, the Ministry of Public Service and Gender issued another memo.

Mary Kimonye, the Principal Secretary State Department for Public Service reiterated that all public servants have to receive the jab by yesterday.

On Monday last week, TSC CEO Nancy Macharia called on teachers to take advantage of the current availability of vaccines to get the jab ahead of the August 23 deadline issued to civil servants.