Twelve police officers have been shortlisted for interviews for the position of Deputy Inspector General of Kenya Police.
This is after the National Police Service Commission met Wednesday for the exercise ahead of the interviews scheduled for April 4, 2023, at KSG.
Some 30 police officers applied for the job that fell vacant after the retirement of Edward Mbugua.
Among those shortlisted include David Birech, Rono Bunei, Vincent Makokha, Jecinta Muthoni, Maurice Kipkoech, Douglas Kanja, and Rosemary Kuraru.
Others are Abdalla Komesha, Judy Jebet, Nyale Munga, Tom Odera, and Bruno Shioso.
The commission had limited the applications to holders of a bachelor’s degree, a Kenyan citizen who must have served in the police service for at least 15 years and be of the rank of Assistant Inspector General of police.
As the DIG, the holder of the officer is the most powerful as he or she controls almost 70,000 personnel of the more than 100,000 officers under NPS.
The other personnel is in Administration Police Service and DCI.
The DIG KPS is in charge of all eight regional police commanders, 47 county commanders, formation commanders, Sub County Commanders, Officer Commanding Station (OCS), and all uniformed officers.
He also controls the General Service Unit, traffic department, and Kenya Police College in Kiganjo.
The first DIG under the 2010 constitution was Grace Kaindi in 2012 then came Joel Kitili and Mbugua.
The functions of the DIG in Kenya are crucial for the command of the National Police Service.
Article 245 of the Constitution provides for two positions of Inspector General to head the Kenya Police Service and the Administration Police Service.
The President should appoint each Deputy Inspector General of Police with the recommendation of the National Police Service Commission.