Inspector General of Police likely to be a woman or civilian

By Juma Kwayera

The short list published by the National Police Service Commission (NPSC) for position of Inspector General of Police and Deputy Inspector General points to the possibility it will be given to a woman or candidate from outside the police force.

As expected, applicants from the force dominate the shortlist. Ms Grace Syombua Kaindi, the first woman to be appointed deputy commissioner of police, leads the list of serving and retired police officers for the position of inspector general of police post.

She is a career investigator who served in the Criminal Investigations Department and is currently the Provincial Police Officer, Nyanza Province.

She is the first woman police officer to hold such a position. She is a recipient of the Moran of the Order of the Burning Spear (MBS) for her distinguished service. Kaindi’s credentials will be pitted against those of retired police officer Mary Oyugi-Kaol.

Ms Oyugi served in various capacities prior to her retirement. She was a senior assistant commissioner of police and chief of Interpol, National Central Bureau, Kenya.

Former Swaleh Slim Khalil beat some of his superiors to make the shortlist. The former Provincial Criminal Investigations Officer has a track record of combating capital crimes, especially drug trafficking through the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport and Mombasa’s Moi International Airport.

Police spokesman, Eric Kiraithe, a renowned spinner of facts is on record arguing that an inspector-general of police must be a member of the force if the envisaged reforms are to make sense.

Many times he has taken the Government to task over under-equipping the force, thereby limiting its ability to deal on the upsurge in crime.

Only one non-member

Joseph Henry Ashimala shot to prominence during the transition to political pluralism as one of the few senior police officers that did not interfere with the opposition. Many times he was credited with preventing State-sponsored hooligans from disrupting opposition rallies.

The other strong candidate from the force is former Director of Operations for the Police, David Kimaiyo. Mr Kimaiyo’s service in the force includes serving as Nairobi area Traffic commandant.

Only one non-member of the force made the cut. This is former Rift Valley PC Hassan Noor Hassan, who chairs the taskforce for reclamation of the Mau Forest Complex water tower. The other candidates are Peter Macharia Mwangi, and John Patrick Owino.

The candidates for the deputy inspector-general for regular police and administration police have some notable names. The most obvious is Assistant Commissioner of Police King’ori Mwangi, whose performance in the past has elicited controversy.

Although he is one of the most highly educated officers, King’ori’s stint in Mombasa as Coast Provincial Police raised concerns on whether he could effectively deal with drug trafficking.

Francis Ndegwa Muhoro will come up against some tough questioning because of his reported link to State House. During the vetting, one of the judges faced questions about his closeness to the First Family.

The other notable candidate in this category is Jasper Ombati, a former police spokesman and Officer Commanding Kasarani division in Nairobi.

He has an impressive resume, but he will sure be asked to explain his interests in the transport sector. The other candidates for the deputy IGP are Marcella Andanje from Kakamega, Judy Jebet Ndeda, Mohammed Ibrahim Amin, Stanley Cheruiyot, Dido Mamo Galgallo and Zippora Mboroki.

The shortlist for candidates to head the administration police is the most interesting.

Already questions have been raised about the failure of George MacGoye, a holder of a Master’s degree in criminology, to make the cut, while Acting AP Commandant Omar Shurie’s academic credentials show he has only basic education.