It is a major win for the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) CEO Nancy Macharia, after the High Court dismissed a petition seeking her removal from office over corruption allegations.

In a judgment delivered by Justice Lawrence Mugambi, the court found that the petition filed by activist Francis Owino, which accused Macharia of violating Chapter Six of the Constitution through gross misappropriation and misuse of public funds amounting to over Sh3 billion for salaries, was premature.

While striking out the petition, the judge ruled in favour of Macharia, citing a lack of sufficient evidence to support the allegations against the TSC boss necessary for the court to determine that she is unfit to hold public office.

“In my firm view, there is absolutely no iota of probative evidence to sustain the allegations against TSC chief executive for the court to make a declaration for her removal,” Justice Mugambi said.

The allegations in the petition detailed several issues purportedly plaguing TSC under Macharia’s leadership. 

Owino stated in his petition that the Auditor General had implicated the TSC in a Sh3 billion salary scandal, where the chief executive allegedly overpaid a section of the staff despite the agency facing a shortage of teachers.

The petitioner also accused the commission of failing to remit over Sh2 billion in taxes deducted from staff salaries and noted that some employees who had not repaid their salary advances continued to draw more advances, raising questions about possible collusion to misuse the commission’s funds.

Furthermore, Awino pointed out that the Auditor General’s report indicated that a review of the payroll for the 2020/2021 financial year revealed that 32 teachers had an outstanding balance of salary overpayment amounting to Sh33,780,614.

The repayment period for these amounts extends beyond the retirement age of the respective teachers, casting doubt on the recoverability of the balance.