Kenya: The National Police Service Commission has assured senior police officers that they will not lose their jobs in the coming reorganisation, after some positions were scrapped.
Commission Chairman Johnston Kavuludi said all the more than 190 officers whose ranks have been scrapped in the new structure will be absorbed.
"As long as one has been vetted and has a certificate on the same, they will not be sent home because we are doing all we can to accommodate them all," he said.
He was reacting to reports that suggested more than 100 officers may leave the service because their ranks have been scrapped.
The ranks scrapped include Senior Deputy Commissioner of Police, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Senior Assistant Commissioner of Police and Assistant Commissioner of Police in both regular and Administration Police.
Interior Cabinet Secretary Joseph ole Lenku has gazetted the new ranks, which include Senior Assistant Inspector General of Police (SAIG), Assistant Inspector General and Commissioner of Police.
According to Kavuludi, all police county commanders will be of the rank of Commissioner of Police in the changes to come. "At the national level, there will be around 40 officers of the same rank," he added.
According to the new structure, there will be 10 slots available for the Senior Assistant Inspector-General, who will be in charge of directorates at the national headquarters of the Administration Police and Kenya Police. They will be deputised by less than 38 assistants.
The commission has been scrutinising the professional and academic qualifications of the officers and hopes to meet and make the announcement soon.
Disagreement over ethnic balancing has caused the stalemate in filling up the top positions in the police service and mobilising the new organisational structure that will bring order and command.
TRIBAL MERITS
Sources said whereas some commissioners had agreed on the need for both merit and ethnic balancing to be the leading factor, some outsiders want to push their tribesmen to the positions, which has led to the stalemate.
Many officers feel continual delay of the appointments has contributed to the failure of security officers to address some structural and security problems.
In the structure, the Criminal Investigation Department, General Service Unit and some of the formations will be semi-autonomous but reporting to the Inspector General of Police (IGP).
There will be eight directorates to be based at police headquarters to co-ordinate the affairs of the service at large. They include Operations, Planning, Logistics and Development, Gender and Community Policing, Personnel, Internal Affairs Unit and Communication.
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There will also be a principal assistant to the IG, his deputies and Directorate of CID.
In the national structure, there will be 10 SAIGs. Two will be in the IG's office, four in the office of the Deputy IG, three in the office of DIG for AP and one in the office of Director of CID.
"There will be four SAIGs in the office of DIG Kenya Police namely the Principal Assistant, commandant GSU, Commandant Kenya Police College and Commandant Anti- Stock Theft Unit," reads part of the structure. Vetting of police is still ongoing.
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