Court Orders IG Koome To Pay Compensation To KMPDU SG With His Money
IG Koome was also directed to publish an apology to Dr Atellah for violation of his rights by the police during the protests, an apology that should be pubslihed in a national newspaper within 14 days.
Viral Tea Ke Writer 
The High Court has issued orders directing the Inspector General of Police (IG), Japhet Koome to pay compensation to Kenya Medical Practitioners, Dentists and Pharmacists Union (KMPDU) Secretary General Davji Atellah using his personal funds.
In a brief ruling seen by Viral Tea, Justice Jairus Ngaah of the Milimani High Court Judicial Review Division directed that the police boss compensate his KMPDU counterpart in the form of general damages from injuries he sustained while leading medical interns in protests within Nairobi.
"The Respondent, from his personal funds, pays Dr Davji Atela, compensation in the form of general damages (under Article 23 of the Constitution and Section 7(1)(j) of the FAA) for violating his rights while using unlawful force, to disperse the peaceable and unarmed picket at Afya House, Nairobi on 29 February 2024.
Inspector General of Police Japhet Koome during a 3-day assessment tour in Baringo County on April 2, 2024. /NATIONAL POLICE SERVICE
"A costs order requiring the Respondent to pay, from his personal funds, the costs of this litigation, to deter his future attempts to suspend Articles 36, 37, and 41 of the Constitution or his use or authorisation of the use of unlawful force, to disperse peaceable and unarmed strikes, assemblies, protests, and pickets contrary to Articles 36, 37, and 41 of the Constitution," read the orders in part.
IG Koome was also directed to publish an apology to Dr Atellah for the violation of his rights by the police during the protests, an apology that should be published in a national newspaper within 14 days.
Justice Ngaah also blocked IG Koome from interfering with the ongoing doctors' nationwide strike, suspending the order the latter issued on Sunday to stop medical practitioners from staging peaceful demonstrations pending the determination of a suit lodged in court by several lobby groups led by Kenya Human Rights Commission(KHRC).
"Grant of leave to operate as a stay restraining the respondent, Japhet Koome Nchebere, the Inspector General of the National Police Service, or any officer subordinate to him, from enforcing the Inspector General’s decision of April 14, 2024, to suspend Articles 36, 37, and 41 of the Constitution by cancelling, disrupting, or interfering in any way with the medics’ right to strike, assemble, protest, or picket while peaceable and unarmed," Justice Ngaah ordered.
IG Koome drew controversy following his remarks that the National Police Service (NPS) witnessed and received reports of the inconveniences arising from the strike, with medics lying on the streets thus obstructing highways and public roads and disrupting the free flow of vehicles and movement of people.
Koome noted that the medics have become "a public nuisance, blowing whistles and vuvuzelas during the demonstrations thus causing discomfort to patients in hospitals and the general public."
"Yet, we have information that non-medics with the intention to cause havoc and terror to the public intend to join the ongoing processions, a move that poses a threat to public safety and security," stated Koome in part.
The IG, in the interest of national security, therefore instructed all respective Police Commanders to deal with such situations firmly and decisively per the law.
Taking to X, however, Atellah responded by alleging that the IG was undermining the constitutional rights of citizens to assemble, demonstrate and present petitions, as enshrined in Article 37 of our Constitution, terming his statement as "an affront to our democratic values."
The KMPDU boss later announced that KMPDU moved to sue the Inspector-General over the remarks and threats.
