David Kimaiyo to stay longer as Inspector General of Police as replacement is sought

Outgoing Inspector General of Police David Kimaiyo.

NAIROBI: Outgoing Inspector General of Police David Kimaiyo has announced he will remain in office until his successor is named.

And to show he is still the boss, the IG on Tuesday signed a statement he issued indicating he is still in office.

“I retired and therefore I have to hand over to a successor who is yet to come. In resignation, one leaves immediately but it is different with retirement,” he explained.

Kimaiyo also told a meeting of senior officers in his office on Tuesday that President Uhuru Kenyatta had asked him to stay in office until a suitable successor was found.

He also showed them a letter from the Head of State indicating he had accepted his retirement and the request for him to stay on.

Kimaiyo has been reporting to office since December 2 when he announced his departure. But he arrives without his flag and uniform.

The National Police Service Commission (NPSC) is yet to decide who between Deputy Inspector-General in charge of Administration Police Samuel Arachi and his regular police counterpart Grace Kaindi is supposed to be named as an interim IG for three months as required by law.

Other informed officials said the President wants to use the proposed Security Laws (Amendment) Bill, tabled in the National Assembly on Tuesday, to appoint Kimaiyo’s successor.

The bill empowers the President to appoint an IG, doing away with the role of NPSC and various constitutional commissions currently empowered by law to participate in the hiring process.

“The President shall within 14 days after a vacancy occurs in the office of the inspector general, nominate a person for appointment as inspector general and submit the name of the nominee to the National Assembly,” the bill, which has drawn various views, proposes.

This may, however, mean the Head of State has a direct hand in appointing the IG, which will be against Article 10 of the Constitution on national values.

The office of the IG is independent and hence needs public participation in his appointment. Thursday, a source said the commission will meet at its Westlands offices to discuss the matter and other issues such as quorum hitch and political interests.

The amended National Police Service Act says for NPSC to make decision, it has to have a quorum of six members.

As it is now, there are only four commissioners who can meet to make such a decision on who is supposed to be acting IG.

They are Johnstone Kavuludi (chairman), Murshid Mohamed, Mary Owuor and Ronald Musengi.

INTERESTED PARTIES

But Arachi and Kaindi cannot sit in the commission given they are interested parties.

Esther Colombin, who was the deputy chair, died in November 2103 while Shadrack Muiu has been sick for the last two years and has not attended meetings.

Their positions have remained vacant for the last year despite a request by the commission that President Uhuru Kenyatta starts the process of replacing them.

As per the current National Police Service Act, the NPSC is required to pick one of the deputies to act immediately the position of the inspector general falls vacant.

Kimaiyo resigned amid rising insecurity across the country. The Independent Policing Oversight Authority (Ipoa) waded into the quorum debate, saying NPSC could not purport to recommend an acting IG.

“In accordance with the National Police Service Act (as revised, July 2014) it should be clear the NPSC as currently constituted has no quorum and cannot purport to recommend appointment of an acting IG,” said Ipoa Chairman Macharia Njeru.

He demanded strict requirements as provided in the amendments on the issue of quorum to the NPSC Act.

But Kavuludi argued that Article 250 of the Constitution says each commission shall consist of at least three, but not more than nine, members.

The process to get a new boss is governed by Section 12 of the National Police Service Act.

It ensures the appointment of an IG is a shared responsibility of various public and professional institutions, including NPSC, Parliament and the President.

The Head of State would constitute a panel within 14 days from last Tuesday, comprising representatives from his office, Public Service Commission, NPSC, Ipoa, Kenya National Commission on Human Rights, National Gender and Equality Commission and the Law Society of Kenya.

The panel should, within seven days, gazette the vacancy before interviewing and shortlisting at least three candidates.

And within another seven days, they should forward the names to the President who would then pick one for nomination and present it to Parliament for approval.