I don’t grasp the goal of police vetting

This is a confession. Like many other Kenyans, I am no longer sure what to make of the police vetting that has been going on for some time now.

Of what use is it? Is it worth the millions we are spending on it? Is the vetting achieving its goals? What, in fact, are those goals?

However, one thing is certain. If in the past we have had reports and allegations of corruption in police recruitment, it is likely that even more cases of graft will be reported in the future.

A recent survey claimed that 50 per cent of youth in Kenya do not care what means one employs to make money as long as they do not end up in jail.

And it is clear that senior officers in the Kenya Police Service, particularly in the Traffic Department, are making a lot of money.

The joke around town is that Kiganjo Police College is one of the best business schools in the world. Many graduates of the college are rich.

In a population where almost 50 per cent of the people cannot afford to spend $1.25 in a day, these policemen are doing very well. Their business acumen is, indeed, marvellous.

Kiganjo easily beats the Harvard Business School, one of the top Ivy League schools in the world.

MILLIONS OF SHILLINGS

Police are also technologically savvy. Most of their transactions, in millions of shillings, as revealed during vetting, are conducted through M-Pesa.

It would appear that the chamas run by the police are some of the richest in the country. They are so well organised that their contributions to colleagues in distress run into millions of shillings.

However, there is something unique about the chamas. The contributions invariably go up — from juniors to seniors, making them merry-go-ups and not the merry-go-rounds that most of us are used to.

One officer said that there was a tradition at a police station he served for junior officers to send Sh3,000 to the boss every Friday.

Assuming that there were 10 officers sharing this responsibility, it means the big man (or woman) was getting 30,000 every Friday. The officer explained that the money was from a welfare fund.

Another one said he would send money to his seniors and that it was used to fund the construction of a perimeter wall at the police station and purchase a generator.

So police also donate money to the government, literally, to undertake projects that are meant to promote the welfare of citizens.

So, it is back to my initial question: What should Kenyans make of the vetting of police officers? Is it meant to achieve anything?

Even though unintended, the vetting has exposed corruption in the service. And there is a danger that this will be “normalised” as the National Police Service Commission does not seem to know what to do about it. There is a need for urgent action to stop this if the vetting is to achieve any useful results.

The writer is the president of the National Civil Society Congress. [email protected].