Recruiting rebellious, failing students undermines police professionalism, Owino says

Former police spokesperson Charles Owino has warned of what he sees as lowering entry standards into the National Police Service, which he says risks eroding its professionalism and credibility.

Speaking during Citizen TV’s Daybreak program on Wednesday, Owino criticised what he described as a growing trend of admitting “wayward” and underperforming students into the service.

“There’s a feeling that policemen have not been educated people. Policemen have had very, very well-educated people; it’s now that I’m seeing funny people,” Owino said.

He pointed to the calibre of early post-independence officers, including Bernard Hinga, Kenya’s first African Commissioner of Police, who was recruited straight from Alliance High School in 1954 and became commissioner at just 32.

He also cited James Kanyotu, the country’s first intelligence director, who was picked from Makerere University in 1959.

“It is now that people think they can bring their bad children to the police; ‘This is a wayward child, let them join the police,’ ‘They have scored a D, they should become a police officer’. There’s no space for that,” Owino added.

Among the basic requirements for admission into the police service as a constable currently are a minimum mean grade of D+ in the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) examination, with a D+ and above in either English or Kiswahili.

Owino’s sentiments came against the backdrop of an upcoming police recruitment as the National Police Service Commission (NPSC) seeks to absorb 10,000 constables.

The commission has said the exercise will be under new regulations designed to promote transparency after past exercises were marred by complaints of bribery, favouritism, and bias.

For the first time, the recruitment will be conducted entirely online, with applicants required to submit their details virtually.

However, Owino argues that moving the entire exercise online could lock out qualified candidates from disadvantaged backgrounds.

“The children may not even get bundles. So, if you say people go to be recruited online, I feel that we are trying to bite off too much because many children would have fallen out,” he said.

He instead called for maintaining physical recruitment drives at centres across the country, with subdivided groups and more oversight observers, to ensure fairness and credibility in the process.

“The best thing is for people to go to the recruitment centre, get registered, have their certificates checked, take dictation and physical fitness tests like running, and take aptitude exams,” said Owino.