Blind obedience hobbles police force

One of the more alarming revelations from the on-going public hearings into the activities of alleged police impostor Joshua Waiganjo is just how easily top officers were fooled, bullied or co-opted into breaking the law. Many concede they were aware something was amiss but, incredibly, none chose to take any action to bring Waiganjo’s five-year escapade to a close.

At the point of its discovery, during investigations into the killing of dozens of police officers in Baragoi, Samburu District, some officers tried to obstruct justice and protect superiors whose actions apparently allowed or facilitated the deception.

If this subversion of law and order was possible on the mere word of a man with no formal role in the force, how much worse it must be in other parts of the police services where officers of questionable integrity hold sway. Indeed, the question of whether rogue officers gave the orders that enabled Waiganjo to get away with crimes is one of the matters now under public inquiry. Whatever the answer to this question, it is clear a dangerous culture of blind obedience to orders, whether lawful or unlawful, and an aversion to whistleblowing must both be overcome to change the police service.

So far, senior officers have admitted to either breaking the law or turning a blind eye to criminal activity if they believed their superiors were involved or had issued orders to do so. Some officers have testified they had their doubts not just about Waiganjo’s place in the service, but also many of the requests and instructions he put to them.

To overcome these doubts, the accused impostor allegedly played up his ties, real and imaginary, to Commissioner of Police at the time, Mathew Iteere, and Rift Valley Provincial Police Officer John M’mbijiwe. This was apparently enough to secure falsely sworn affidavits, use of State resources, the redeployment of police officers and release of court exhibits, and even employment in the force for Waiganjo’s brother.

If Waiganjo’s alleged ties with known criminals were not reason enough to expose him during his five or so years in the force, it must be because other senior police officers have similar ties to underworld characters. Those who were concerned at this state of affairs appear to have kept quiet about it, only avoiding any contact that would implicate them in his activities. How much more of this is going on across the force? What crimes are being covered up?

In one of the most damning assessments of the force ever written, a United Nations special rapporteur noted reports of death squads, protection rackets, and high-level police corruption. Other reports have linked key officers to murders (both of criminals and fellow police officers), drug deals, and other offences.

However, the absence of evidence or witnesses has long been an impediment to any interdictions or prosecutions. Knowing as we do that junior officers will close their eyes to their seniors’ sins, we must assume the truth about many of these crimes lies hidden within the force.

Resolutions that lead to such ills being rooted out must be the primary aim of the probe into Waiganjo’s activities. Like the Artur saga in 2006, this fiasco is about more than an impostor allegedly committing serial crimes.

It is about an institution whose mechanisms for rooting out criminal elements are only capable of targeting officers of junior rank. As police spokesmen are wont to say, the force does make an effort to prosecute crimes by its officers (even though these are often under reported in annual statistics). But most of the targets are low-rank policemen caught up in ordinary criminality.

When it comes to the activities of senior officers compromised by organised crime, the track record is less stellar, despite evidence from various bodies, including State agencies like the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights. Police reform has no chance if this does not change. In coming days, this should be a propriety concern for both the civilian oversight body and the top leadership of the police force under Inspector General David Kimaiyo.