The problems Kenya police face explain why they behave as they do: IPOA’s Waiganjo

Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) commissioner John Waiganjo says the harsh working conditions members of the National Police Service (NPS) go through play a role in the misconduct witnessed among officers over the years.

Waiganjo on Wednesday said Kenyan police officers face problems right from their training to their work conditions, most of which he blamed on the service’s senior management.

“It boils down to how they are treated, from their recruitment to their promotions, deployment transfers and the way they are treated by their seniors. It is the senior leadership of the NPS that has brought all these problems,” the commissioner told Citizen TV’s Day Break program.

Waiganjo, who is also a High Court advocate said the conditions have traumatised officers, leading to cases of suicide among police officers and misconduct such as excessive use of force.

“If you understand the problems the membership of the National Police Service goes through, then I think you would understand why they behave in the manner in which they do. We have seen suicides in the service and certain brutality that tells you that person is not themselves,” he said.

His comments came in the wake of the presentation of the final report on the improvement of terms and conditions of service and other reforms for members of the National Police Service and Kenya Prisons Service by a 20-member National Taskforce.

The taskforce is led by former Chief Justice David Maraga and presented the report to President William Ruto last Thursday.

Among the things the team has proposed is the disbandment of the current National Police Service Commission team and a 40 per cent salary raise.

Others are that the entry age into the service be increased from 18 to 21 years, and the minimum qualifications be raised to grade C-minus, up from the current D-plus.

“This report must be implemented not just quickly but very radically,” Wiganjo said on Wednesday, calling it a redemption of the NPS in that for once, addressing the welfare of officers has taken centre stage.

“Even if the previous taskforces recommended that we move away from the ‘National Police Force’ to the ‘National Police Service’, we just changed the name. Otherwise, the mindset and leadership are the same.”

Dr JM Waiganjo – Commissioner, IPOA: If the recommendations of the report are to be implemented, it will be the first time that we will be redeeming the National Police Service. We tend to condemn the police service but hardly talk about their welfare #DayBreak @serfine_achieng pic.twitter.com/2v4dHx5lUw