Years of neglect have crippled police force operations

By Juma Kwayera

Kenya is paying the price for years of failing to plough resources into the police force, with the officers now forced to bear the brunt of ruthless criminals roaming the country.

The massacre of more than 40 police officers in Baragoi exposed further the weaknesses of the already over-stretched force’s capacity and capability to deal with ever-shifting crime trends.

As the nation comes to terms with the challenge the police face in the line of duty, questions are being raised about why attention has not been given to the force compared to the privilege the military enjoys.

 Police began feeling the pinch in the 1980s when Kenya’s credit-worthiness was in question as development partners backed out to force the Government to be more accountable and responsible in management of public resources.

The freeze on spending on security imposed through the punitive World Bank and International Monetary Fund structural adjustment programmes in mid-1980s through the 1990s affected the security situation in the country as the Government concentrated on keeping the military happy while the police was relegated to the periphery.

Former Office of the President PS Ali Korane admits the funding cutbacks forced the Government to freeze police recruitment for nearly a decade against a rapidly expanding population.

“The structural adjustment programmes had a direct impact on the capacity and ability of the police to discharge services. However, the security challenge is much bigger than what we are seeing. The 1982 attempted coup shifted focus on the military. At the time of the coup there was limited political space in the country and the army was seen a potential threat and if there was to be change in Government it would be through the military,” explains Mr Korane, a long-serving member of the Provincial Administration.

Challenges

As a DC in Mombasa and Nakuru he was in charge of the local security. Looking back, he says the coup unsettled the Kanu regime and donor arm-twisting exacerbated the situation.

He recalls, “The concern of the time was about regime survival and not security of the country. The army was to be kept in good humour at the expense of national security.”

Since Kenya Defence Forces rolled tanks into Somalia in pursuit of Al Shabaab, the police have become targets of revenge attacks. Add on threats posed by gangs such as secessionist group Mombasa Republic Council, criminal gangs like Kisumu’s US Marine and China, Mungiki and the Sabaot Land Defence Force, the capacity to crack down on crime has severely been compromised.

Since Independence, the country has also faced security challenges with regard to cattle rustling in the expansive northern frontier districts, which resulted in recent killings of security officers.

A taskforce constituted to look into reforms in the police force after the 2007/2008 post-election violence also indirectly contributed to the current upsurge of insecurity. The taskforce chaired by Justice (rtd) Phillip Ransely advised the Government to put on hold recruitment until the envisaged police reforms had been implemented.

In particular, the taskforce recommended a new police-training curriculum to be developed before resumption of recruitment. The freeze lasted from 2008 to last year, which created a deficit of about 10,000 officers, because traditionally, roughly 3,500 new officers join the service.

Compromising capacity

The shortage of personnel has put a strain on operations of the police service, hence compromising its capacity and capability to keep pace with the mutating crime trends, according to security expert, Capt Simiyu Werunga.

The freezing of development aid to Kenya, which was further aggravated by revelations that senior Government officers were involved in mega corruption scandals involving close to Sh15 billion for the purchase of forensic laboratory equipment, Werunga, who heads the African Centre for Security and Strategic Studies, told The Standard On Sunday.

Werunga’s sentiments are corroborated by a new research by Kenneth Omeje and John Mwangi Githigaro titled ‘The Challenges of State Policing in Kenya’, which notes, “The Kenyan police are understaffed and therefore the country is under policed. There are estimates the Kenyan police had a population of about 40,000 personnel by 2010.”

The report adds, “It is instructive that a staggering number of 2,500 officers are permanently deployed to the personal service and protection of top political office holders (President, Prime Minister, Vice-President, Deputy Prime Minister, Cabinet Ministers, etc). The President and his family alone are guarded by 200 elite squad drawn from the General Service Unit; the Prime Minister and the VP each have 45 armed guards at their disposal.”

In addition, it says, natural attrition, physical injury, resignation for greener pastures elsewhere and dismissal on disciplinary grounds also contribute to reduced capacity of the police.

Werunga says corruption in Government and reduced funding from donors have a bearing on the current state of insecurity. Kenyan police used scholarship for specialised training in intelligence, investigations and anti-banking fraud, among others in developed countries such as Britain, France, US, Canada and Israel. Sour bilateral relations precipitated a withdrawal of training programmes for the police.

“Structural adjustment programmes and graft in Government limit equipment procurement and injection of professionalism in the police service. In the absence of appropriate technology and ever-changing crime trends, it becomes difficult to match international best practices of policing,” he says.

In the mid-1980s, the Government halted direct entry in the service by professionals, which Werunga says, made it almost impossible to tap talent from other spheres of knowledge. The end result was entrenchment of ethnicity as more deserving officers were sidelined during promotion.

“Even after Kibaki came to power and donors came on board, there was no consideration for the police. Donors bought the only vehicles the police have lest the money was pilfered. The focus remained on the military, which is one of the best equipped in the region. In terms of technology, nothing has changed,” Werunga says.

Although 7,000 recruits joined the force this year, the number covers only those who have left through deaths, retirement, resignation or dismissal for indiscipline. The current deficit translates police: population ratio to 1:1550 instead of the internationally recommend 1:450.

“The recruitment has been to cover those who have left through natural attrition. This is despite the fact the crime trends have changed and population has been rising, which has further stretched the police,” he says.