Police promotions put on hold after mix-up
Interior Cabinet Secretary Joseph Nkaissery (left) and Inspector General of Police Joseph Boinett at a past press conference. Nkaissery said on August 9, 2016 that a finalised list of promoted police officers would “be released after verification and confirmation” .PHOTO | JEFF ANGOTE | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
- Mr Nkaissery maintained that the differences were occasioned by a communication problem.
- Mr Kavuludi said on Friday, that the NPSC took into account seniority, merit, work record, ethnic and regional balance and gender in promoting the 53 senior police officers.
- NPSC commissioners met on July 26 and the police boss was informed that the list he had proposed lacked regional and gender balance.
The promotion of senior police officers has been put on hold until the Interior ministry releases a harmonised list.
On Tuesday, Interior Cabinet Secretary Joseph Nkaissery said a finalised list would “be released after verification and confirmation”.
He said there had been no conflict over the promotion despite the National Police Service Commission and the National Police Service having released two different lists- the latter having omitted seven names.
Mr Nkaissery maintained that the differences were occasioned by a communication problem.
He said he had met the heads of the two bodies Johnston Kavuludi (police commission) and Joseph Boinnet (police service), and they had discussed the differences.
“We have realised that there were anomalies that should never have occurred and we have resolved to finalise the list before we can release it officially,” Mr Nkaissery said.
He reiterated at a press briefing attended by Mr Kavuludi and Mr Boinnet that a mix-up occurred between the commission secretariat and the police service board.
“We will then convene another meeting to ensure that there is no repeat of what happened,” Mr Nkaiserry said.
In a statement accompanying the list of promoted officers, Mr Kavuludi said on Friday, that the NPSC took into account seniority, merit, work record, ethnic and regional balance and gender in promoting the 53 senior police officers.
LACKED REGIONAL BALANCE
The commission had maintained that the Inspector General of Police, Joseph Boinnet was one of the commissioners who attended the meetings that made the decisions on who to promote.
NPSC commissioners met on July 26 and the police boss was informed that the list he had proposed lacked regional and gender balance.
The list initially drafted by NPSC had only three female officers but the commission added two more names- SSP Mary Omari and SSP Rosemary Sipatan Kuraru due to gender considerations.
Also, out of the initial list of 13 officers from the Kenya Police Service who were to be promoted to the rank of AIG, six of them were found to be coming from one ethnic community.
The final scheduled meeting was on Tuesday August 2 which the IG and his two deputies did not attend, claiming that they were held up in other duties.
The commission then directed the IG to convey the decision of the Commission to the promoted officers.
In the NPSC list of 53 officers, there were five who were promoted to the rank of Senior Assistant Inspector General (SAIG), 32 to the rank of Assistant Inspector General, and 16 others were promoted to the rank of Commissioner of Police and placed in acting capacity for confirmation to the rank of Assistant Inspector General within 6 months.
