Police crisis as turf war rages

Supremacy wars among top policemen are hampering operations at the Directorate of Criminal Investigation.

Most officers due for promotion courses have not reported, while others transferred to the DCI have not been released following in-fighting pitting the directorate’s boss and the Deputy Inspector General of the Kenya Police Service.

About 800 officers due for promotion last year have not attended the requisite courses before being promoted, according to sources. As a result, most offices across the country lack officers at management level.

Failure to report by some of the officers transferred to the DCI has also created a shortage of manpower.

Officers on promotion courses have been training at the Kenya Police College in Kiganjo but DIG Grace Kaindi has not admitted the officers citing serious shortage of instructors, facilities and space.

Yesterday, Ms Kaindi, though admitting the shortage of space and other facilities, denied she had issued such orders. “Facilities at our training institutions are strained but I am not aware that is the reason DCI officers have not attended their promotion courses,” she said by telephone.

DCI director Ndegwa Muhoro promised to issue a statement but by the time of going to press he hadn’t. The DCI is answerable to the Inspector General, but he still relies on the DIG (Kaindi) for personnel, training and facilities.

The Nation established that due to the expansion, 112 DCI offices were created across the country. They neither have the personnel nor the basic infrastructure.

Priority was given to the 90 officers who were to be trained and promoted to the rank of superintendents of police (SP), and another 240 officers who were to be promoted to the rank of inspector. These two classes were to be posted to the newly created offices to bridge the wide gap.

TRAINING

According to a police signal issued last year, 770 officers were to attend different promotion courses. Some 240 officers were to attend corporal course, 160 sergeant, and 40 officers, the senior sergeant course. Another 90 officers were picked for the Higher Training Course (HTC) for SPs.

Records indicate that for the last one year, only one class each for sergeant and inspectorate has been trained. Some of them were to be trained at the CID training school but Ms Kaindi did not release the instructors from the Kenya Police College.

Again, most officers out of 476 who were spot talented to join the DCI from the General Service Unit (GSU) and other general duty departments were never released.

The DCI does not have a college for recruits initial training, and gets the officers from Kiganjo, though the budget for the training of the recruits is under the DIG Kaindi. Out of the 7000 recruits who left the police college this year, only 240 officers were posted to the DCI.

In the 2013-2017 DCI’s Strategic Plan, whenever there is a recruitment exercise, the officers should be identified at the centres before they proceed for the initial training. The National Police Service Act states that officers to the DCI are to be assigned by the NPSC on recommendation of the directorate but that has not been the case.

Also, regional offices for three sections –the Fingerprints, Cybercrime, and Crime Scene Support Services –which were to be devolved to Mombasa, Nakuru, Kisumu and Garissa have not been created due to lack of funds and personnel.

Plans to make the directorate completely independent of the Vigilance House are underway. The DCI had late last year ordered that all his officers’ files at the Vigilance be transferred to the DCI headquarters. The last files were released a fortnight ago. However, the files of those seconded to the DCI were not released.

Already, a staff each from the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Database (IPPD), Pension and Records department have reported to the DCI from Vigilance.

Another problem facing the directorate is housing. The DCI officers staying on government leased houses have been ordered to seek alternative housing. Last Tuesday, the deputy DCI Gideon Kimilu and all the section heads held a meeting where the housing crisis featured prominently.

Another meeting is scheduled for tomorrow to discuss the budget, personnel and housing issues of the directorate.
Other officers have linked the woes facing Mr Muhoro to succession wars, land fraud cases investigated by his office and the control of funds.