Families of police killed on duty still miss compensations

Police officers sent to Baragoi to stem insecurity in the region [Photo: Kibera]

By Jacob Ng’etich

NAIROBI, KENYA: Even though Benson Ndung’u died in the line of duty during the Suguta Valley massacre, his family is yet to receive compensation from the State. And being a first-born child, the mother, Gladys Kariuki, says Ndung’u was a role model to the rest in the family.

“He had indicated a brighter future and the family had hopes in him,” she says.

Now Ms Kariuki has been waiting for the Government to compensate her family for the loss of their beloved son, but to no avail.

“We are still waiting six months after we lost him. We don’t know when they will remember us,” says Ms Kariuki.

Another parent, Festus Muigei from Nandi County has also faced a similar challenge in his attempts to reach the relevant authorities. He has made several trips to Nairobi to secure any benefit due to his son, who was also killed in the massacre, but this has not been successful.

He is now frustrated and about to lose hope and wishes there could be a breakthrough in the exercise that has no clear procedures.

“I thought my son was doing a service to the State,” wondered the father.

Families’ sentiments

These are some of the sentiments from families across the country that has lost their kin in the ever-increasing number of police deaths. What compounds the problem is the ballooning number of officers killed every month. According to Simiyu Werunga, a Director of African Centre for Security and Strategic Studies and an analyst in matters of security, hardly a month passes without the news of the law enforcers being killed. Werunga says the National Police Service needed to urgently address the welfare of officers killed in the line of duty.

“It is a shame for the country that officers who gallantly provide security for the citizens are immediately forgotten after being given the 21-gun salute during their burials,” says Werunga.

However, AP Spokesperson Masoud Munyi argues that there are a number of funds that are given to the families when their kin lose their lives. “We have three funds that benefit the families. These include the death gratuity, which is paid to the family if the officer dies prematurely,” said Munyi.

Pension schemes

He says there is also the Widows and Children Pension Scheme that, though is not lumpsum, is also sent to the bereaved family.

“There is also the insurance scheme which is part of the ongoing reforms in the National Police Service,” adds the Spokesperson.

Unlike other countries in the world and especially in the West, the Kenya police do not have life insurance and their deaths or injuries attract no significant benefits or compensation.  Not even the police vehicles or aeroplanes are insured to ensure that those involved in the accidents are compensated.

Therefore, the families of the police officers who lose their lives or are injured in the line of duty normally change for the worse.

In some other countries the death of an officer is greeted with great Government and public condemnation and action instituted to bring the culprits to book. The families of the officers are normally compensated if the officers meet their deaths while on duty, in other cases including taking care of education for their children and spouses. In the US for instance, they go beyond death to offer disability benefit to the officers who become permanently and totally incapacitated as a direct result of injuries sustained while at work.

Fifty years after independence, police officers in Kenya do not have an insurance scheme to keep their families in the same state as when they had their breadwinners. Therefore, their families remain uncovered despite the hazardous conditions under which their kin operate.

“No compensation would be given to my family today if armed gangs were to come for my life. I have to work hard to make sure that I invest for their future despite the meagre pay,” says a corporal officer at Mlolongo Police Station.

“We have our own initiative of contributing Sh50 from our monthly salaries so that in case one of us is affected we can ensure they get to be buried decently,” adds the officer. President Uhuru Kenyatta has vowed to improve the situation.