President Uhuru Kenyatta has been roped into an alleged wrangle within the police service and his silence over the retirement of Deputy Inspector Edward Mbugua has sparked jitters within the service.
According to a report by The Standard on November 2, 2019, Mbugua attained the mandatory retirement age of 60 in July 2019 and Kenyatta together with the National Police Service Commission have been reluctant in appointing his successor.
Inspector General Hillary Mutyambai has also been dragged into the matter with the daily reporting that the IG crafted a list of senior police he wants to be redeployed.
"I am not in the picture and I don't know anything over the matter," IG Mutyambai informed The Standard, playing coy from speaking on Mbugua's replacement.
Further reports claimed that secret night meetings have been held between politicians and top police bosses seeking favours to succeed Mbugua.
On Friday, November 1, the NPSC failed to meet as planned. The agenda of the meeting was aligned towards ousting five senior offices from the Service.
The five who reportedly face the sack are a former provincial police chief, a former Kenya Police College commandant, an officer in the police legal department and a senior officer in the human resource department in the office of the IG, Jogoo House.
In 2016, Kenyatta was given powers by MPs to pick police chiefs through an amendment of the law. The law provides that the president shall, on the recommendation of the National Police Service Commission, appoint the deputy inspector general of police within 14 days of a vacancy occurring.
The IG and his deputy have reportedly been at loggerheads over controversial issues within the police force.
Mbugua was on the spotlight on Tuesday, October 15 when Mutyambai was forced to take action against him following a damning feature dubbed Westlands Underworld. The investigative report which was aired on Citizen TV on Sunday, October 13, exposed several senior government officials and how they used their lofty positions to harass a wealthy Asian family.
The IG, upon consulting with Interior CS Fred Matiang’i and DPP Noordin Haji, ordered for a formal investigation to commence immediately, going on to order for the submission of all evidence on the highly sensitive matter, Citizen Digital reported.
On October 17, 2019, another report by Nation indicated that police officers were up in arms against Mutyambai.
The IG, in his new quest to streamline the police service trailed by indiscipline cases, faced resistance from his officers.
His ambitious agenda to reform the National Police Service elicited tension after hundreds of police officers were transferred in the recent past.
