New Boss Saves 300 Rogue Police Officers From Being Fired

Three hundred police officers are set to continue serving in the force despite facing disciplinary action from the vetting committee.

The Daily Nation reported on Wednesday, October 23, that the officers who were yet to get the results from the vetting process conducted in October 2018, would continue holding their positions.

"There are about 300 officers who were working with a lot of worries because reports of their vetting are not yet out," National Police Service Commission (NPSC) new chairman Eliud Kinuthia was quoted by the publication.

Kenyan police officers on patrol.

Kinuthia, who took over from former chairman Johnstone Kavuludi, revealed that the officers had a second chance at reforming.

"But I want to announce here today and tell those officers not to be worried and should be settled at work. None of them has been found suitable or unsuitable. They now have a chance to do better," Kinuthia added.

He, however, affirmed that officers who were dismissed would not be considered when cases of misconducts were reopened.

"Vetting will be there as normal. We will now be doing it with other security stakeholders who will also share information about the conduct of those officers that we intend to asses," Kinuthia disclosed.

Kinuthia noted that the stakeholders would include the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP), the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA), the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) among others.

This came amidst sustained public outcry and protest by human rights groups over abuse of power by the Kenyan police force.

The Standard on October 14, 2019, reported that Inspector General Hillary Mutyambai held a meeting to crack down on rogue officers.

The meeting involved the joint service board, regional and sub-county police, Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) and Critical Infrastructure Police Unit commanders.

The meeting came up with tough rules to reign in on rogue police officers among them the requirement of all officers except those from the DCI to wear uniforms while on official duty for easy identification.

Police would also be barred from holding firearms while off duty which meant that all guns would be dropped at respective police stations before checking out. 

Mutyambai
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