The Teachers Service Commission (TSC) is facing a Sh50 million compensation lawsuit after a teacher who claims he was forcibly and maliciously transferred in violation of his constitutional rights sued, with the board and management of a Nairobi Primary School also named as respondents.
Jeremiah Rianga, a teacher living with epilepsy, hypertension and diabetes, argues in court papers that the TSC ignored his medical condition when it transferred him from Bidii Primary School in Buruburu, where he lived close to his caregivers. He has been transferred to GSU Primary School in Roysambu.
He says an attempt to appeal at the TSC Nairobi Regional Office to be posted to Dr Livingstone Primary School in Makadara backfired, with the Commission instead transferring him even farther away.
Mr Rianga claims the transfers were punitive and meant to punish him for refusing to collect what he describes as illegal levies from parents, including remedial, motivation, diary, development and CCTV fees allegedly imposed by the board and management of Bidii Primary School.
In a petition filed at the Employment and Labour Relations Court, Mr Rianga is seeking an order compelling the TSC to investigate the collection and utilisation of all money collected from learners at Bidii Primary School.
He is also seeking general damages of Sh50 million for the alleged violation of his constitutional rights.
Mr Rianga accuses Bidii Primary School head teacher Raphaera Nyaga Kanya of humiliating him by allegedly sharing his confidential medical records in a school staff WhatsApp group, causing him emotional distress.
Court documents show that on May 5, 2026 he received, via WhatsApp, a transfer letter dated April 28, 2026, posting him to Dr Livingstone Primary School. He immediately lodged an appeal seeking to have the transfer reversed and to be reinstated at Bidii Primary School.
On May 28, he appeared before the Nairobi Regional Transfer Committee, where he presented medical reports confirming that he has epilepsy, diabetes and hypertension. He argued that his medical conditions require him to remain close to his caregivers, who assist him during medical emergencies.
Mr Rianga claims the committee dismissed his concerns, allegedly telling him that "everyone is sick”. Instead, he says the committee issued him with another transfer letter on the same day, posting him to GSU Primary School in Roysambu.
He argues that the new posting is even farther from his home and presents greater challenges for a person living with epilepsy. The school, he says, is located within the General Service Unit (GSU) premises, where movement is restricted and access to emergency medical assistance could be limited.'
Mr Rianga contends that the TSC failed to take into account his medical condition and that the transfers were not based on legitimate administrative reasons but were intended to victimise him for raising concerns about public accountability and alleged unlawful practices at the school.
The Employment and Labour Relations Court has certified the matter as urgent and directed the TSC and the other respondents to appear before the court on July 14, 2026, for further directions.
Mr Rianga’s petition comes weeks after hundreds of teachers in Nairobi protested what they have termed forceful, malicious and punitive transfers that breach the TSC regulations on staff balancing.
The common thread in the recent transfers, spanning primary, junior and senior schools, is an alleged fallout between affected teachers and school administrators over the imposition of illegal levies on parents.
Under Regulation 64 of the TSC Code of Regulations, teachers may be transferred to address staffing needs, fill vacancies, facilitate replacements, or on medical and other administrative grounds.
Similarly, a landmark ruling delivered on February 28, 2024 by Employment and Labour Relations Court Judge Byrum Ongaya held that the TSC has no power to use transfers as a disciplinary measure against teachers.
In what is a departure and breach of the regulations and court ruling, the affected teachers maintained the transfers were done arbitrarily and used by the heads of institutions to settle scores.
A teacher who was transferred from Aga Khan Primary in Westlands notes the claim that the transfers were done to rationalise staffing were untrue.
“The head teacher cited overstaffing to justify my transfer to create room for a teacher to be employed by the board of management,” he said.
His sentiments were echoed by many other teachers, noting that humanitarian considerations were ignored in the recent transfers.
A teacher left with one year to retirement says she has been transferred in a swap with another teacher, despite not having mutually agreed to the move, as she is currently nursing her elderly mother who has dementia.
“As a matter of fact, I was humiliated and my car searched as though I am a criminal when I went to clear from the school,” she said.
Another teacher, who is nursing an infant, was transferred from Baraka Primary School in Buruburu, compelling her into a daily commute to her new duty station that she says has left her mentally destabilised.
“I did not request the transfer. The head teacher initiated it after I failed to meet tuition-related targets of Sh1,000 per child per month, collected for remedial classes held in the mornings and evenings,” she said.
For Albert*, the transfer came only two months after his posting to Buruburu Girls, where he alleges the head teacher required him to attend meetings at 6.30 a.m., despite the long commute, and to remain at school until 10 p.m.
Teachers on contract have also not been spared in the transfers with claims of possible collusion of officers at the TSC county regional office with school heads.
The teachers, majority of who are deployed to junior schools, note they were victimised after participating in a peaceful demonstration outside Parliament Buildings on May 5, 2026, agitating for their absorption into permanent and pensionable terms.
“In fact, by 8am on May 6 2026, I had already received my transfer letter. Now I spend Sh300 on a daily commute to my new duty station, despite earning a meagre Sh17,000 with a medical issue I am dealing with weighing me down,” said the intern teacher who sought anonymity.
Around 100 teachers affected by the transfers have appealed the move to the TSC regional director for Nairobi stationed at Nyayo House.
