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The Prime Minister said the appointments were unacceptable and cannot be allowed to proceed/FILE

Kenya

Kenyan PM rejects President’s police appointments

The Prime Minister said the appointments were unacceptable and cannot be allowed to proceed/FILE

The Prime Minister said the appointments were unacceptable and cannot be allowed to proceed/FILE

NAIROBI, Kenya, Jan 26- The Prime Minister Raila Odinga has rejected all three appointments gazetted by the Office of the President in the Police Service on Friday, saying they were unconstitutional as agreement had not been reached with the President about the appointees.

“I had raised my serious objections to the three names that were presented to me in the consultations that were underway,” the Prime Minister said in a statement.

President Kibaki had on Friday appointed Deputy Inspector Generals for the regular and Administration Police, as well as a director for the Criminal Investigations Department.

In the new appointments, Grace Kaindi who formerly served at the Kenya Airports Police Unit (KAPU) will be in charge of the regular police.

Acting AP Commandant Samuel Arachi will maintain his position after emerging top in the interviews conducted at the end of last year.

CID Director Ndegwa Muhoro will also retain his position after beating other candidates in the interviews conducted by the National Police Service Commission that is chaired by Johnson Kavuludi.

The Prime Minister said the appointments were unacceptable and cannot be allowed to proceed.

“I had expressed reservations on their integrity, which needs to be unquestioned given the powerful role of the Police in every aspect of the nation’s life, including of course the upcoming elections. The Independent Police Oversight Authority Chairman Macharia Njeru had also issued a scathing report highlighting serious allegations touching on the integrity of CID head Ndegwa Muhoro. Mr Njeru had also a written to the President and the Prime Minister indicating that Mr Muhoro should not be considered for any of the upcoming police appointments.”

According to the law the three will serve for a term of four years and are eligible to apply for re-appointment.

They will work under Inspector General of Police David Kimaiyo who was appointed on December 24, 2012.

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The Inspector General serves for a single non-renewable term of four years.

The appointments are part of the police reforms envisaged under the new Constitution.

In the interviews conducted in October and November, Kaindi was ranked third after Kimaiyo and John Ochieng of the National Focal Point on Small Arms.

In the AP category, Arachi was top after Gideon Kimilu and David Ngondi.

For the post of CID director, Muhoro emerged top, beating Judy Ndeda of the Kenya Railways police and former Police Spokesman Jasper Ombati.

In making the appointments the National Police Service Commission and the Office of the President had to obey the National Police Act which states that one of the three must be of the opposite gender.

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