A cross section of police officers are opposed to an announcement Cabinet Secretary Prof Kithure Kindiki on plans to assign chiefs with five cops.
They argue the announcement is unconstitutional and will negate the independence of the command of the Inspector General of police if and when implemented.
A number of police officers at command level argue this seems to be part of ways of trying to continue to control the police despite an announcement by the president the IG will have independent control of the service.
“This is seen in bad light. Let him sit down and get a briefing on the plans that have been in place to address this issue of chiefs and police,” said a senior police officer who asked not to be named.
The officer said the issue is being discussed in many social media platforms including WhatsApp,Telegram and Signal and all are opposed to the announcement.
“We will oppose it even in courts. It is illegal and uncalled for in this era,” added another officer.
The officers say it means there will be two parallel chain of command in the service- one reporting to Kindiki and another to the IG and that this is all about financial control.
On November 17, Kindiki said chiefs will have at least five police officers assigned to them and be required to keep work plans and a register of services as the government mulls empowering and professionalizing grassroots administrators.Kindiki said the considerations that will come to effect by early next year are intended to make the 3950 chiefs and their 9043 assistants more effective but also more accountable to the public.“We are working towards reorganising ourselves between the National Government Administration Officers (NGAOs) and the police to ensure, as it was before, that every chief has police officers attached to them to enable them be able to enforce law and order.”He directed the State Department of Interior to liaise with the National Police Service to implement the proposal by January next year.He allayed concerns that placing police under chiefs’ command could return the country to the era of all-powerful and notorious provincial administrators saying the government will strike a fine balance between power and responsibilities.“We are going to improve their working environment to make sure they deliver security and are able to articulate government policy more clearly and more effectively by supporting them as they deliver their services. We are going to stand with them and work with them to ensure that we deliver security.”The officers will also be required to prominently display the service charter outside their offices as part of the reforms the CS said will be progressively escalated to the senior levels of the National Administrative Officers (NGAOs) including district and county commissioners.The service charter, work plans and the register of service will be standardised and made mandatory. The CS said this was also intended to inject competence and discourage the administrators from dabbling in partisan politics.The funds to build modern offices will be sourced from the public coffers including the Constituency Development Fund.“We want to ensure our NGAOs have the right environment to attend to citizens because they are the government’s eyes on the ground,” the CS said.But the officers want the government to implement a plan that has been in place that was to see more than 3,600 chiefs’ camps in Kenya turned into modern police posts in an exercise that will cost at least Sh40 billion.
It will cost at least Sh2 million to equip each of the posts with a cell, armoury, report office and other amenities.The plan mooted in 2019 was also to see all the country’s 1,520 wards will have police stations to be manned by an Officer Commanding Station (OCS), while the current constituencies will also have police divisions to be served by sub-county police commanders formerly known as OCPDs as part of efforts to devolve services across Kenya.Already all Administration Police Service camps at chiefs’ offices and those not near police stations are being transformed into police posts, following the President’s 2019 directive to merge police units.
The new changes started with the change of the command structure, with the collapse of parallel commanders for the APS, Kenya Police Service (KPS) and Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI).
According to plans, it meant that if you walk into a chief’s camp, you will find all government services there.The chief will be present and if your case needs police attention, an officer in charge of a post or patrol base will attend to you.The camps are to have a holding cell and will handle all cases professionally.
“If a chief needs the police for an operation, the Officer Commanding Police Post (OCPP) will be on the ground with him,” said an official who has seen the plans.
This too will apply to the County Commissioners and sub-County Commissioners.Officers who are unhappy say the functions of the IG are important for the overall command of the NPS and hence must be respected.
The Kenyan Constitution establishes the office of the Inspector General of Police in Kenya in Article 245.According to the law, the person should exercise independent command over the NPS and perform any other functions prescribed by national legislation.The NPS Act contains further provisions on the office including the powers and functions of the Inspector General in Kenya.The person is in charge of the overall and independent command of the NPS.Independent command of the IG means that the holder should be responsible for all matters relating to the command and discipline of the National Police Service.However, this is subject to the disciplinary control of the National Police Service Commission where he is a member.The IG should exercise Command over NPS and lawfully administer, control and manage the service as a disciplined Service.The Cabinet secretary responsible for police services may lawfully give a direction to IG with respect to any matter of policy but no person may give a direction to the IG with respect to the investigation of any particular offence or offences, enforcement of the law against any particular person or persons or employment, assignment, promotion, suspension or dismissal of any member of the service.Any direction given to the IG by the Cabinet secretary responsible for police services, or any direction given to the Inspector-General by the Director of Public Prosecution under Article 157(4) of the Constitution, should be in writing.
