NPSC orders senior police officers Jonathan Koskei and Peter Eregae to vacate office

NPSC chairman Johnston Kavuludi. [PHOTO: FILE/STANDARD]

NAIROBI, KENYA: Two senior police officers who had been found unsuitable in the vetting process have now been ordered to vacate their offices.

The National Police Service Commission (NPSC) ordered Senior Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of reforms Jonathan Koskei and Senior Deputy Commissioner of Police in the office of the Inspector General of Police Peter Eregae to vacate office by last Friday on September 12.

This was after they failed to appear for a scheduled revetting exercise at the commission offices in Nairobi.

A court had in May ordered the two sacked officers be revetted on their suitability.

High Court judge justice George Odunga ordered the commission to vet a fresh the two after they were they were retired for being unsuitable after the vetting exercise in January.

They had moved court through their lawyer Alloys Apell saying they were not prepared for the exercise and sought to annul the whole process.

They also demanded to be returned to work because there were no regulations when they were being vetted by the same commission.

Justice Odunga ordered they be re-vetted for fairness to both parties. The commission explained Sunday they decided to sack them after they failed to show up for vetting as earlier ordered by court.

"It has been three months since the court ordered that they be revetted but they failed to show up after we had sent them the required materials. The commission decided to sack them after we established they had violated the law," said the commission chairman Johnston Kavuludi.

Meanwhile, the commission has reviewed appeals of all the 12 officers of the ranks of Assistant Commissioner of Police and Senior Assistant Commissioner of Police.

The review ended on Tuesday last week after the officers appealed their sacking. The officers had appealed their sacking saying it was unfair.

Among those whose cases have been reviewed include the head of investigations at CID headquarters Samuel Nyabengi, Kajiado County police commander Tito Kilonzi, deputy director of police logistics Stephen Kemei, head of police operations at Dadaab Refugee Camp Roba Kalicha, David Birechi (police headquarters), Alexander Munyao (Kenya Police College) and Sharif Abdalla (Nyeri).

Others sacked were Joseph Musyoki of Administration Police headquarters, Peter Muinde of CID Training School, Emanuel Kenga Karisa (Vihiga County Police), Wilfred Mbithi (operations Nairobi) and Paul Onyango (Kakamega AP).

They will now wait for the outcomes of the review exercise.

The commission said the reasons for their sacking included lack of discipline, integrity, violation of human rights, financial impropriety and engagement in criminal activities among them bribery, human trafficking, rape and defilement as well as the smuggling of commodities such as sugar, illicit brews and drugs.

So far, close to 200 officers of the ranks of ACP and above have been vetted in the exercise that started in December aimed at checking police suitability and so far more than 20 have been sacked.

Vetting is mandatory for all officers before they are promoted to the next rank, confirmed or posted.

The vetting process is being conducted pursuant to the provisions of the Constitution Article 246 and National Police Service Act (2011) Section 7(2) and (3) which stipulate that members of the National Police Service shall undergo vetting to assess their suitability and competence.

Vetting is mandatory for all officers before they are promoted to the next rank, confirmed or posted.

The vetting was meant to clean up the police, which has been listed as the most corrupt institution in Kenya by many surveys.

Vetting of police officers was among the more than 200 proposals of a commission set up following the 2007-2008-post election violence.