Policewoman branded arrogant for casually greeting vetting panel

Agnes Chebii of Sotik traffic Base during police vetting in Nakuru on August 27,2016.PHOTO:KIPSANG JOSEPH

A police officer was accused of being arrogant and indisciplined during traffic police vetting in Nakuru.

Agnes Chebii, who is based in Sotik, marched to the vetting room and before sitting, was prompted to greet the commission in an unofficial manner.

“Habari zenu?” (how are you?), said Ms Chebii, leaving the panel chaired by National Police Service Commission chairman Johnston Kavuludi in shock.

Rift Valley Region Administration Police Commander Francis Kirathe, representing the Inspector General, felt let down. He ordered her to leave the room.

“Police Constable, is this what you were trained at Kiganjo? Move a step behind, turn left, out,” Kirathe instructed. Other officers usually salute the panellists.

Later, she appeared before the panel but could not express herself well. She only gave one-word answers, which annoyed the panellists.

Mr Kavuludi asked Ms Chebii, a mother of four, who sat Certificate of Primary Education examinations in 1982 to state what happened in the country in 1982.

She said Kenya was hit by a famine 1982. “You do not remember any political event?” asked Kavuludi, referring to that year’s attempted coup.

Lawyer Kipkoech Ngetich, representing Law Society of Kenya (LSK) asked her how she accumulated property worth Sh59 million.

Chebii said she joined the police force in 1986 and that she accumulated property worth Sh26 million.

According to her, she made the wealth from selling of tea leaves and second-hand clothes.

Kavuludi asked her if she had ever received a bribe and whether she had any friends.

She maintained that she was ‘clean’ and had never allowed anybody to give her gifts, including her friends. Kavuludi then asked her if her mother was her friend and, surprisingly, Chebii said she was not because she is her mother.

“You see everybody with suspicion. If this is how you operate, you do not deserve to be a traffic police officer. I am seeing you as a person with disorders. Police officers should be social  people, for example can you allow speeding motorists taking a patient to hospital to proceed because he is saving a life?” he posed.

The chairman complained about her being “economical with words”.

Alex Cheroitich, another officer, requested that he be vetted in Kiswahili, the language he understands best.

When asked by Kavuludi whether he reads English newspapers, Cheroitich said he does but he usually “misses out a lot”.

Cheroitich is said to have received Sh2 million between 2012-13 through M-Pesa.