10,000 September Police Recruits in Limbo as Power Struggles Stall Hiring
Kenya’s plan to recruit 10,000 new police officers by October is hanging in the balance as wrangles within the National Police Service Commission (NPSC) threaten to derail the whole process.
Initially, the recruitment was to start early September with new recruits expected to report to police colleges by October 1. But turf wars between senior police commanders and civilian commissioners have stalled preparations and the budget for the exercise is yet to be approved.
All eyes are now on new commission chairperson Dr. Amani Komora who has the task of brokering peace within the divided team. Dr. Komora has already called a full commission meeting this Friday with recruitment on the agenda.
Leadership at Crossroads
When he took office last week, Dr. Komora vowed to restore teamwork at the commission. “We will build a cohesive and united NPSC, because divisions would undermine our ability to achieve our mandate. Unity of purpose will be our focus,” he said.
But divisions continue to rage. Inspector General of Police Douglas Kanja, his deputies and DCI boss Mohammed Amin are opposed to the online recruitment system proposed by commission CEO Peter Leley. The police leadership says the digital platform is being introduced without consultation and there are no commission minutes to back its adoption.
Some commissioners have criticized what they call unilateral decision making. “You cannot have one person driving an agenda and forcing the decision on others,” one commissioner said anonymously.
The rift has escalated through a series of official letters including one dated August 6 in which Mr. Leley withdrew human resource management powers previously delegated to the Inspector General. Copies of the letter were sent to senior government offices signaling the seriousness of the feud.
Past Recommendations and Presidential Concern
This comes just months after the outgoing commission led by Eliud Kinuthia recommended that officer transfers should be reviewed and approved by the NPSC before they are effected. Currently police chiefs forward transfer lists after the fact raising questions of accountability.
President William Ruto when he received the report in April said police reforms were urgent particularly on irregular hiring, opaque promotions and welfare systems. “Even as we acknowledge successes, challenges such as irregular recruitment and budgetary constraints must be addressed without delay,” the president said.
With divisions now widening under the new leadership the September recruitment exercise is at risk of collapsing and police colleges will be empty when they were supposed to receive thousands of new trainees.
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10,000 September Police Recruits in Limbo as Power Struggles Stall Hiring