Police to get new command structures

Officers officers at work.  [PHOTO: FILE/STANDARD]

By CYRUS OMBATI

Kenya: The new police leadership structure at county level and head office will be functional once the vetting of officers is completed early next year.

Among those to take office will be the new county police commanders. The commanders, according to informed officials at the office of the Inspector General of Police, will be in charge of Regular, CID and Administration Police in their counties and will liaise with county commissioners and governors on various matters.

This means the 141 commanders — 47 Regular, 47 Administration Police and 47 CIDs earlier appointed and deployed by police boss David Kimaiyo — will have to wait for an overall commander to be ratified and deployed to co-ordinate the security matters in their respective areas.

The vetting of top police officers is set to begin on November 25.

The exercise will first target top 10  police officers of the rank of Senior Deputy Commissioner of Police (SDCP) before those of other ranks begins on December 2.

A programme on the vetting exercise indicates the National Police Service Commission with a group of hired experts from the Public Service Commission (PSC), Directorate of Personnel Management (DPM) and an international expert plan to vet 211 officers of the rank of Assistant Commissioner of Police and above by December 20.

Some of those who succeed in the vetting may be named county commanders, officials aware of the process say. Officers of the rank of Senior Superintendent of Police and below will be vetted at various counties in January, the commission told The Standard on Sunday.

Vetting instruments

Alexander Mayers, an international expert who vetted officers in Bosnia, former CID boss Francis Sang and Perminus Mutonyi are among those who will be in the panel. The commission has so far ratified the vetting instruments, regulations and tool kit and are waiting gazettement.

National Police Service Commission Chairman Johnstone Kavuludi said they have cancelled their leave and engagements outside Nairobi to concentrate on the exercise. “All commissioners have agreed to focus on this issue for now. We hope to finish within the timetable,” he said.

Officers who opt not to be vetted are allowed to resign and will be paid their dues, officials said.

The commission has hired researchers, lawyers and investigators and set up a secretariat at their offices at Sky Park in Westlands to carry out the exercise.

The panels will look into skills inventory, competence and suitability and integrity of the officers. Successful SDCPs will automatically be named to the rank of Senior Assistant Inspector General of Police (SAIG).

Approved by team

Kimaiyo has so far drawn a structure that has been approved by the commission and which is ready for gazzettment.

Sources said Kimaiyo will come up with the county structure that will be used to deploy commanders on the ground.

In the national structure, there will be 10 SAIGs. Two will be in the IG’s office, four in the office of the Deputy IG in charge of police, three in the office of Deputy Inspector General (DIG) for AP and one in the office of Director of CID.

“There will be four SAIGs in the office of DIG Kenya Police, namely the Principal Assistant, Commandant GSU, Commandant Kenya Police College and Commandant Anti-Stock Theft Unit,” reads part of the structure.

President Uhuru Kenyatta had to personally intervene to enable the process to kick off as planned. The process had stalled for months following opposition from a section of senior police officers, informed officials revealed.

But after some officers informally informed the President why they were unable to discharge their duties, a furious Uhuru is said to have summoned interior Cabinet Secretary Joseph ole Lenku and demanded an explanation.

Massive resources

The commission had refused to ratify the deployment of the 141 commanders – 47 regular, 47 Administration Police and 47 CID officers until they are vetted.

Kimaiyo had appointed and deployed the commanders disregarding the vetting requirement.

Uhuru said the vetting of all senior officers must be done as required by law and is part of the beginning of transformation in public service.

“If you don’t want to change, please leave and allow us to appoint people willing to serve. Vetting is a must and all of you must agree to that,” he said.

Lenku said they expect the exercise to be through by March 2014 before officers in lower ranks are vetted.

“This is a large force with over 80,000 officers and we expect the whole of it (vetting) to end by March next year,” said Lenku.

He admitted that the vetting exercise requires massive resources to compensate officers who opt to leave, and that the Treasury will finance the exercise.