London-based activist Eliud Karanja Matindi has filed a petition in court seeking to stop Patrick Tito from acting as the Deputy Inspector General (DIG) in charge of Kenya Police in the absence of Eliud Lagat.

Tito was Lagat’s principal assistant while he was in office until the latter stepped aside.

In the case, Matindi has sued the National Police Service Commission (NPSC) and the Attorney General.

Lagat and Tito have been listed as interested parties alongside the Law Society of Kenya and Katiba Institute.

Matindi is seeking to have Tito barred from carrying out any duties as per a letter that was issued by Lagat when he announced that he was stepping aside.

Lagat stepped down following nationwide protests that questioned his role in the death of blogger Albert Ojwang in police custody. The DIG had complained that Ojwang defamed him on social media prior to his arrest.

Pending the hearing and determination of the case, Matindi wants an order prohibiting Lagat from carrying out any functions of a DIG.

In the petition, Matindi questions the role played by NPSC when Lagat appointed Tito as his replacement, saying that the police employer NPSC abdicated its role.

“The 1st respondent is sued in these proceedings for abdicating its constitutional responsibilities and allowing Eliud Kipkoech Lagat, DIG, Kenya Police Service to determine whether or not he ought to be subject to disciplinary control and what sanctions, if any, he ought to face.”

He accuses NPSC of allowing  Lagat to ‘step aside’ as DIG pending completion of a probe into the killing yet it was not in his place to make that determination.

“It was, instead, the 1st Respondent’s constitutional duty to make that call, as demanded by Article 246(3)(b) of the Constitution.”

Matindi says that NPSC abdicated its constitutional function of appointing a person to act as DIG pending the appointment of a substantive officer holder after Lagat ‘stepped aside”.

“It is the Petitioner’s case that Eliud Kipkoech Lagat had no constitutional or statutory powers to appoint any person to act as DIG, Kenya Police Service during his claimed absence from that office.”

He further argues that NPSC allowed Lagat to ‘step aside’ as DIG yet still remain in the office, adding that there is no constitutional or statutory provision allows him to do so.

Matindi in his petition says that Lagat is deemed to have resigned as DIG on June 16 after he determined that he could no longer lawfully discharge the functions of a DIG.

He argues that since Lagat resigned from office, President William Ruto ought to have appointed a successor as per the constitution following recommendations by NPSC.

“Under Article 245(3) of the Constitution, there can only be one DIG, Kenya Police Service at any one time, whether appointed substantively under that provision or in an acting capacity under Article 246(3)(a) of the Constitution.