A police officer stationed at the Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC) centre in Kakamega County was on Wednesday arrested for neglecting his duties of supervising administration of Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) exams at the centre.
According to a police report filed at Musoli Police Station, the incident unfolded when Police Constable Collins Etyang left his rifle unattended declining to continue with his duties.
Per the police report, centre manager Tom Ambale was present at the time and begged Etyang to pick up his firearm as it posed a danger to the community and the students sitting their national examinations.
However, his pleas fell on deaf ears as the officer walked out of the exam centre and went.
Ambale reported the incident to Musoli Police Station and informed the officers of Etyang's conduct.
"The report was made to police and the Sub-county examination surveillance team rushed to the school and found the officer missing, he was immediately replaced with another officer, and shortly the officer came back to the examination centre while very drunk," read part of the police report.
Detectives from Musoli Police Station withdrew the officer from the centre and replaced him with another colleague.
Subsequently, Officer Etyang was arrested and taken to the station, awaiting disciplinary action.
The case is part of several other reported incidents of officers neglecting their sensitive duties to take alcohol. This highlights the worrying situation among police officers who are faced with mental-health-related challenges.
According to the latest report by the National Police Service (NPS), at least 12,000 police officers are facing mental health challenges which are directly related to work.
To tackle this issue, NPS has set up training sessions for senior officers to assist their subordinates in coping with work-related stress.
