The revelation was made on Tuesday afternoon by the Chairman of the National Police Service Commission (NPSC) Johnstone Kavuludi who is also claimed Kimaiyo is blocking reforms/FILE
The revelation was made on Tuesday afternoon by the Chairman of the National Police Service Commission (NPSC) Johnstone Kavuludi who is also claimed Kimaiyo is blocking reforms.
“We understand that there are some messages that have been sent to police officers who were keen to apply for the positions of County Commanders and we understand that it is attributed to the Inspector General. No single member of the commission on his or her own can stop the recruitment of police officers for the county jobs,” he said.
Addressing a press conference in Naivasha, Kavuludi emphasised that the commission will not be cowed in any way from fulfilling its mandate, which includes instituting reforms in the police service.
He indicated that they had received over 300 applications from serving police officers who are interested in the 94 County Commander posts advertised last month.
The positions in the 47 counties will be filled by two commanders each – one for regular police and AP.
“Quite a number of retrogressive agencies have continued to want to see the process stalled. We have a police service which in the past and still is saddled with a sad history of corruption, human rights violations, impunity and a leadership that is yet to be fully independent and accountable to the people of Kenya,” Kavuludi said.
The commission also expressed its opposition to the amendments proposed in the National Police Service Act, which according to him would significantly weaken the mandate of the NPSC and erode the gains made in police reforms.
Quite a number of retrogressive agencies have continued to want to see the process stalled. We have a police service which in the past and still is saddled with a sad history of corruption, human rights violations, impunity and a leadership that is yet to be fully independent and accountable to the people of Kenya – Kavuludi
“It has come to us as a shock that some senior officers in the public service who are not members to this commission have proposed amendments to the National Police Service Act 2011 with the intention of derailing police reforms,” he said. “The proposed amendments which are being done clandestinely are intended to severely water down the powers of the National Police Service Commission. These amendments have neither been done with our knowledge, participation nor approval.”
He stressed that the commission will reject the proposals in their entirety since they were made in bad faith and called for similar action from MPs.
“We therefore urge Parliament to reject this Amendment Bill in its totality as it is unconstitutional and done in bad faith. The commission shall not allow such action by anti-reformists hence the commission rejects the proposed amendments,” he said.
“It is not just the Act. The constitution demands that people intending to join the public service must be vetted.”
