A petition presented to the Senate concerning the non-payment of compensation benefits to police officers hurt in the line of duty exposed several ills in the system.
According to the petition presented by Busia Senator Okiya Omtatah on behalf of 7 private citizens, over 400 officers have been left without their rightful benefits since 2021.
The petitioners describe a convoluted process involving multiple agencies, where some officers were requested to part with a portion of their benefits before being fully compensated.
Additionally, some of the officers were allegedly forced to undergo a reassessment of their injuries and present the same before the initiation of the compensation process.
According to the outlined procedure, in the Work Injury Benefits Act (WIBA), payments should be made within 90 days of assessment.
However, the petition claims that not a single officer out of the over 400 cases has received compensation.
“More troublingly, allegations of corruption have surfaced. The petition, for instance, states that reassessment was ordered for some officers while others were asked to part with a percentage of their benefits before they could be paid,” read a statement published by the National Assembly.
The petitioners faulted the Directorate of Occupational Safety and Health Services (DOSHS), and the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) for the delays and inconsistencies in the compensation.
While pushing for the compensation for the officers, Omtatah stated that some of the law enforcement personnel had been incapacitated which is compounded further by the current status where they are already grappling with dire living conditions.
“Added to the low pay, poor housing, erratic career progression and hostile public attitudes and other occupational hazards that the police officers endure daily, the disregard of the injuries sustained in the line of duty makes it unbearable,” Senator Omtatah remarked.
The petition comes after President William Ruto on Wednesday, July 24 announced a pay rise for police and prison officers starting this month.
President Ruto revealed this during the swearing-in ceremony of Patrick Mwiti Arandu, the new Commissioner General of the Kenya Prisons Service at State House, Nairobi.
