Commandant at pains to defend his temper

By CYRUS OMBATI

The Commandant of Administration Police Training College Omar Shurie Abdi was accused of being temperamental and using derogatory language.

During interviews for deputy Inspector General of Administration Police he denied all the claims including tribalism, saying he has done his work diligently without favour and fear.

Mr Abdi was the first to appear before the National Police Service Commission and was followed by Dalmas Otieno Nyakembo Ochalo and Margaret Nyambura Karanja.

The commandant told the commission if appointed the deputy Inspector General he will push for retraining of police officers to achieve much needed reforms.

“Retraining of personnel will be a must with the blessing of the commission. Further, we will have to rebrand and embrace community policing,” he said.

He was put to task over his role in the post-election violence and asked to explain claims that some Administration Police officers doctored the electoral process in the 2007 General Election.

Abdi said he played no role in the elections as he was just a deputy commandant of the college and was not involved in preparing the said group of officers.

On the failed Baragoi operation that claimed the lives of more than 40 policemen, he said the officers might have ignored required operational procedures.

“As a commander, you must brief the troops of the mission ahead and I doubt the affected officers were told in time,” he said.

He added that even with the limited resources, the operation could have been successful if it was executed well.

The other candidates were taken to task over what they have done to address corruption and inefficiency in the force. They all defended their performance in their current and past postings citing working environment as a major hindrance to their work.

The candidates cited corruption, placement, poor pay, lack of better training among other issues that affect the police force.

Today, acting AP commandant Samuel Arachi, Eusebius Laibuta (Administration Police Personnel), Fred Mwei (Administration Police) and David Karungu Ngori will be interviewed.

The commission chairman is Johnston Kavuludi and his deputy  Esther Chui-Colombini, Mary Awuor, Murshid Mohamed, Ronald Musengi and Major Muia are members.