Kimaiyo’s ban mistaken

The directive banning county and divisional police commanders from giving information to the media, other than briefings from crime scenes, is a retrogressive step when Kenya is supposed to be on a march towards transparency and accountability.

By decreeing that information can come only from the official Kenya Police Service spokespersons, Inspector-General David Kimaiyo may have meant well if the intent was to ensure coherence and consistency in communication.

However, it is a directive that is directly in conflict with the evolving laws, practices and culture during the transition to open governance.

During an engagement with media editors earlier this year, Mr Kimaiyo promised to guide the Kenya Police Service from the past culture of secrecy and opacity to the new era of transparency and access to information.

This would be done partly by training his officers at the station, division and county levels in public communications skills so that all information does not have to be sought from the centre.
This new directive takes the Police Service back to a dark era and is a betrayal of what was promised.