Court orders Wajir county to grant medic study leave

A court has ordered Wajir County Government to release its medical officer to pursue studies at the University of Nairobi (UoN) so that he can be promoted.

Justice Njagi Marete of the High Court in Nairobi ordered that Sadik Abdille be granted leave by the county to pursue a postgraduate diploma in ophthalmology.

Abdille told the court that his stagnation in the career was not accidental but a consequence of discriminative tendencies by the county on grounds of his ethnic background in the marginalised communities in the region.

Abdille sued the Wajir County Government, the Wajir County Public Service Board, the County Secretary, the County Executive Committee Member for Health and the County Chief Officer, Department of Medical Services.

The judge noted that Abdille has stagnated in the same position for seven years, despite being a diligent and dedicated officer of the county, in contravention of the scheme of service in public office as well as the subsisting Collective Bargaining Agreement.

“The Petitioner (Abdille) has elaborately presented a case and evidence of such violations in terms of denied promotions and opportunities to pursue further studies even when such opportunities arose,” said Justice Marete.

The Judge said that Abdille’s loud cry over a long time should have been heard and acted upon if the environment in which all this was happening had been fair and just.

He found that the medic's constitutional rights had been violated by the county by denying him promotion and opportunities to pursue further studies despite working for seven years as a county medical officer.

“The Respondents be and are hereby ordered to grant and release the Applicant (Abdille) to enable him to report to the UON to pursue a postgraduate Diploma in Ophthalmology on 18th August, 2025,” said Justice Marete.

Abdille told the court that several letters of admission by UoN for postgraduate studies were turned down by the county through letters dated September 4, 2023, April 5, 2022, and July 16, 2025. 

He argued that the release of some medical officers for study leave before other deserving senior medical officers is a demonstration of favouritism, nepotism and other improper motives by the county’s management of their human resource portfolio.

Abdille said that some of the medical officers released for postgraduate studies were still in medical school when he had already commenced service for Wajir County.

He told court that 26 colleague medical officers have previously been granted paid study leave to pursue postgraduate training at various learning institutions.

“Of these, only three had completed three years of service before such release. Others were even allowed out to sub-speciality fellowships immediately on completion of the master's programme without having offered service for longer than 30 days,” said Abdille.

In defence, Wajir County claimed that Abdille did not use formal channels to file his application for study leave.

The county alleged that the application was made on personal emails instead of formal and official emails, thereby begrudging the exercise of the seriousness that it befits.

However, Abdille said that the so-called personal emails are a normal means of communication amongst the county staff and have served in the past.

Justice Marete dismissed the county claim that Abdille's application was not formal.