Why police officers could smile all the way to the bank

Those in the rank of Corporal would earn Sh40,270 up from Sh26,500, representing an increase of 52 per cent, while Sergeants would take home Sh47,290, up from Sh36,450.

Should the NPSC proposals be implemented, Senior Sergeants would earn Sh53,570, up from Sh40,270, while an Inspector of Police will take home Sh57,060 up from Sh42,940.

The proposals by the Eliud Kinuthia-led NPSC are contained in a memorandum that was presented to the task force yesterday. The task force is led by former Chief Justice David Maraga.

The police employer is also recommending a review of the allowances payable to the officers.

The proposal is that all junior officers in the ranks of Police Constable to the rank of Sergeant be paid an allowance of 50 per cent of their basic salary.

Officers in the rank of Inspector to Senior Superintendent will get 30 per cent of their salary as allowance, while senior commanders in the rank of Commissioner of Police to the Inspector General will be paid an allowance equivalent to 20 per cent of their basic salary.

Besides salaries, the commission has also asked the Maraga task force to disregard a proposal by a section of the police commanders to have the Inspector General named the chairman of the police commission.

"If we go that direction, we will be compromising what the commission has to do," Kinuthia told the task force.

He further asked the task force to review some of the stringent rules that govern the operation of the police commission and which he claimed had led to a clash between NPSC commissioners and police commanders.

Kinuthia told the task force that the commission needs powers to oversight the senior police commanders, including the Inspector General and the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI).

The commission also proposed that the recruitment of the holder of the office of the IG be done on a rotational basis.

NPSC said all police commanders have been picked from the Kenya Police leaving out competent candidates from the Administration Police Service and the DCI.

President William Ruto on December 31 appointed a 20-member task force to review police officers' welfare in the country, spelling out the mandate of the task force in a gazette notice dated December 21.

Among the issues that the task force is required to deal with include to assess and recommend improvement of working and living conditions of police officers.

The task force will also identify and recommend legal, policy, administrative, institutional, and operational reforms in the National Police and Kenya Police Service for effective service delivery.

It will also recommend improvement of police welfare in all cadres of the NPS and KPS and all other matters incidental to the optimal service delivery by the NPS and KPS.

Further the task force will review and recommend any other matter incidental to improved terms and conditions of service and other reforms in the NPS and the prisons department.