The Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) chairman, Ahmed Issack Hassan, has called for the improvement of the police training curriculum in the country to enhance accountability in the service
Speaking during an interview with Spice FM on Monday, April 14, the chairman claimed that the current police curriculum lacks specific units that enable police to respect human rights during their service.
Additionally, according to the chairman, the police service should emulate other professions, such as law, and take police officers through refresher courses to improve their service.
"I had a conversation with some officers last week, and some of them told me that since they left Kiganjo, they have never gone back to any training session; they just left, and they have been working for even 20 years, and there has not even been a refresher course," he said.
"We have to change the curriculum and help them understand that they are not a police force; we are a police service," he added.
For years, the IPOA has put police officers under heavy scrutiny for contravening human rights and the constitution during their line of duty, especially during last year's June protests.
So far, according to the chairman, two police officers have already been charged with contravening human rights during the protests.
"It dates back to post-election violence in 2007, when the police were accused of using excessive force against the demonstrators, and the working commission inquiry recommended a civilian oversight of the police," he said.
"According to the information that I have, two officers have already been charged. Remember, IPOA is not the only authority that investigates these kinds of cases; we also have internal affairs of the police, and we also have the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI)," he said.
According to Hassan, politicians in the country have also played a key role in preventing police from executing their original mandate of protecting the people.
According to the chairman, the National Police Service should be at the forefront in protecting the police from such influences and ensuring that they execute their mandate as required by the law.
"It is a reality that the police have been encouraged and pressured to do certain things by politicians for a political course," he stated.
