LIMITED PUBLIC PARTICIPATION
One continuing problem is the lack of involvement by the Kenyan public.
“Most people are unaware of how to participate; information on the vetting process is never readily available – even some police officers are not aware of this process,” Kiama said.
In a straw poll carried out by IWPR on the streets of Nairobi, seven out of ten people interviewed were unaware of the vetting exercise, while those who knew about it were unsure how it worked.
“I know the process kicked off late last year and a few officers were dismissed,” Christine, who works for a mobile phone company in the capital, said. “I, however, do not understand whether it is a continuous process or when it comes to an end.”
The NPSC has relied heavily on documentary material, largely relating to financial matters, rather than information from members of the public about officers’ conduct.
James Ndung’u of the Usalama Forum, another member of the police reform monitoring group, believes this has prevented a more thorough examination of individual officers’ records.
“This may see some officers sailing through the vetting even when there are doubts about their integrity,” Ndung’u told IWPR.
The NPSC says it has publicised the vetting process through the media. But its director of communications, Khalid Salim, admits that publicity remains a real challenge, something he blames on inadequate funding.
“We always invite members of the public who launched complaints to attend proceedings,” he told IWPR. “However, we are challenged because the level of awareness seems low.”
Chris Gitari, a human rights lawyer working with the International Centre for Transitional Justice think tank, said the government had grossly underestimated the need for outreach when it set up the NPSC.
Gitari is lobbying for the commission to invite people at county level to submit information about local police officers.
“The important issue is for the commission to engage the public much more rigorously; they should find ways of reaching out to organised groups countrywide and get into a dialogue with these groups,” he said.
Kiama agreed that the NPSC needed to go much further and publicise specific complaints raised by citizens as well as giving public feedback on each officer who is vetted. The commission should also engage with civil society groups to ensure that the public was aware of who was being vetted and how to submit information on them, he added.
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