Police officers asked to prepare two-year M-Pesa statements for vetting

Kenya: National Police Service Commission Commissioner Mary Owuor has told senior police officers working in various parts of the country to prepare their bank and Mpesa statements as they wait vetting.

Speaking in a Kisii Hotel on Thursday during a sensitisation meeting, Commissioner Owuor said all officers lined up for vetting must produce a two-year M-Pesa statement.

The officers to be vetted include all OCSs, their deputies, OCS crime, all traffic officers and all officers in the criminal investigation directorate.

All officers with the above ranks from Migori, Kisii, Nyamira and Homabay Counties attended the meeting, which was also attended by the National Traffic Commandant Mrs Jacinta Kinyua.

Mrs Owuor noted that the vetting process has brought to the fore, the complex corruption networks and the interface between junior officers and their seniors.

"Through a scrutiny of M-Pesa statements, the commission has been able to establish that junior officers working in the traffic department regularly transfer fixed amounts of money to some of their seniors, suggesting that they had been given targets," said Mrs Owuor.

She assured the officers and other stakeholders that decisions are arrived at after a thorough process and strict adherence to the vetting regulations and standards.

"The vetting process has helped us discover that most of these officers with high level professional training and vast experience are currently performing duties outside their fields of specialisation and are hence underutilized," she added.

"Any officer who feels uncomfortable with this exercise is free to resign. He or she can fill a form at our secretariat to leave office," Owuor added.

However, several expressed their dissatisfaction over the manner in which the commission intends to carry out the vetting process.