The police force has consistently been ranked as the most sleaze-ridden institution in Kenya. Each time anti-corruption bodies such as Transparency International release research studies on corruption, it is always almost guaranteed that the police will take the unenviable position of being the most corrupt.
This certainly paints the police force in bad light. Matters are not made any better by commentators who, in the aftermath of the release of these studies, launch scathing attacks on the police blaming them for failing to be true to their motto of service to all.
But before pointing a finger at the police, it would be prudent for us to first seek to decipher why the police persistently gravitate towards graft.
Like any malady afflicting an individual or the society, corruption has a root cause and unless we first seek it out and address it, lambasting the police will not in any way salvage the situation.
I know one may argue that the reasons for the police' dalliance with graft are obvious and we need not to waste time delving into the same.
But this begs the question, if the reasons are so obvious, why have we not addressed them so as to ensure that we have a police force whose integrity is not in question? How comes we know what is ailing us but we are at a loss as to how to go about finding the perfect panacea to our predicament?
That the police are awfully underpaid is not in dispute.
Yet like anyone else, policemen and policewomen have families to take care of. They have school fees and other bills to pay.
They have relatives that look up to them for help in one way or another. But with their meagre pay it becomes almost impossible for them to take care of their own families, leave alone helping relatives.
Caught between a rock and a hard place, these officers then seek other means of making ends meet.
This explains why they resort to graft. Corruption affords them one of the easiest ways to get some money to meet their needs.
But all hope seems not to be lost. With the promulgation of the new constitution, concerted efforts have been made to better the lot of the police.
The formation of the National Police Service Commission is one such move that is expected to bring about significant changes in the police force.
Unlike before, when the police had no oversight body and was at the mercy of well-heeled cartels, we now have a body that has been charged with the responsibility of recruiting and appointing persons to hold or act in offices in the police service, confirming appointments, and determining promotions and transfers within the National Police Service.
The Commission has also been mandated to observe due process, exercise disciplinary control over and remove persons holding or acting in offices within the police force.
One thing that this commission should not lose sight of is the fact that it is dealing with a force whose credibility is in tatters. Consequently the Commission must move with speed and adopt measures geared towards addressing the rot in the force.
As aforementioned a good point of departure would be to advocate for improvement of the terms and working conditions of the police. The Commission should be unrelenting in impressing upon the Salaries and Remuneration Commission the importance of ensuring that the police are well remunerated.
Another issue that must engage the commission is housing for the police.
Apart from a few officers whose housing conditions are slightly better, the vast majority of police officer live in hovels.
Families are compelled to share these tiny hovels complicating matters further for the officers. This leaves many officers stressed up and unable to effectively discharge their duties. This could be the reason why Kenyans have been treated to the unfortunate spectre of police officers killing each other and innocent civilians in cold blood.
At the same time, it is a well known fact that when it comes to promotions within the police service, factors other than meritocracy, competence and experience have always held sway.
Many officers have been promoted for no reason other than hailing from the same community with the officer(s) in charge of promotions.
Others buy their way to senior positions in the force or are elevated by virtue of being related to senior officers. The effect this has on officers who deserve promotions but are bypassed in favour of relatives and friends of the people calling the shots in the force, is obvious. They are left seething with resentment which in turn negatively impacts their delivery of services to Kenyans.
This is an issue that the Kavuludi-led commission must hastily look into.
Meritocracy, rather than ethnicism should be the key consideration in promoting officers.
The Inspector General of the Police and his two deputies who are members of the commission should help in this regard given their knowledge of what goes on in the force in as far as promotions are concerned.
Implementing these reforms would significantly cut down on levels of graft in the police service and improve service delivery to the public.
Kenyans are sick and tired of the increasing levels of insecurity in the country and would be more than glad if the working conditions of the police are improved to enable them be effective in providing security.
This article was published in the Star Newspaper on May 11,2013
No comments:
Post a Comment