Reform police to keep it away from political wheeler-dealers

Revelations of the extent to which the top command of the Administration Police allowed the misuse of security officers in the 2007 bungled presidential election are as puzzling as they are shocking.

This, as we reveal in a special report, is just an example of how deep the nation had descended in the slippery pit of violation of the law and impunity. It is unimaginable that at a time the police needed to have every one of its personnel out on the beat as the country approached a high-stakes General Election with all indications that the atmosphere would be volatile, some 1,600 police officers were taken off their duties to act as agents of the Party of National Unity.

The AP officers were eventually driven deep into villages in Nyanza at a time the story of their secret role had leaked to the media.

They were consequently singled out and targeted by charged mobs in opposition strongholds.

With the local police unaware and unprepared for their arrival, the officers – having been stripped of their police identification papers to disguise them as civilians – were set on and beaten up like common thieves. Several lost their lives and identifying them was even harder because they were not carrying any papers.

Wrong decisions

The families of those who lost their lives have been asking questions but are not getting answers. Their deaths show how wrong decisions by leaders led to untold sufferings. Clearly the top command of the AP steered away from the mandate, principles and ethos of a security organ whose motto is integrity and justice. Yet the same AP command is still in place.

The police officers were officially summoned from their stations of work to report to the Administration Police Training College. They learnt of their sinister assignment later. Although the letters they were given as PNU agents bore the signature of President Kibaki as the party leader, the President’s office has since said he did not sign the letters and his party denied knowledge of the conspiracy.

So questions still abound: Who was behind the entire exercise? If the President and PNU were not party to this, then who was giving orders to the AP top command? Were the top officers working on their own?

It is commendable some officers in the top police command had expressed their reservations at involving police officers as agents of a political party.

The epitome of impunity then was the revelation that a commissioner of the disgraced Electoral Commission of Kenya actually tugged along other officials of the commission to the Administration Police Training College where she ‘educated’ the officers on what was expected of them, as PNU agents and how they were to go about marking ballot papers and stuffing them into ballot boxes. It is shocking but not surprising given that the current Constitution allowed the President to unilaterally appoint commissioners to the defunct Electoral Commission. In such scenario, the commissioners would feel obliged to do the whims of the appointing authority.

There were all indications from 2005 that we were setting ourselves up for civil strife. This is why the Kenya Dialogue Team chaired by former UN secretary general Kofi Annan identified the police and the Electoral Commission for reform alongside the Judiciary, Parliament and the civil service.

Know the truth

When organisational structures are weak and lack sound legal foundations, they become prone to abuse. It should be remembered that during that volatile atmosphere, this newspaper and KTN broke the story, but we were accused of incitement. When some of the APs were lynched, our critics argued that had we not exposed the treachery, the officers would not have lost their lives. Those who lost their loved ones and the nation need to know the truth. The State should investigate this matter with a view to putting in place measures that would end such impunity and work out a way to compensate the families.

Above all, Mr Kinuthia Mbugua should step aside to pave way for a thorough probe and reforms. Yet this is the man who still commands this most maligned force.