Six sacked police chiefs reinstated

Six of the 20 senior police officers have been reinstated after appealing against their dismissal.

Former Administration Police spokesman Masoud Mwinyi was among the officers reinstated. He was fired in October last year.

The others are Mr Wiliam Metto, Mr Japheth Ngatwa, Mr Chacha Daniel Chacha, Mr William Kariuki Ngugi and Mr Festus Malinge Luruma.

Some 12 officers failed the vetting while one opted to retire. Another will await the conclusion of a court case she filed against the National Police Service Commission.

Mr Ngugi was sacked after the panel found his conduct in handling a murder case unprofessional. Mr Ngugi was the criminal investigation boss in Siaya in 2011 when Mr Billy Ayieko was murdered.

He went to court and Justice George Odunga quashed the dismissal and directed the commission to review his vetting.

SP Chacha, who was based in Nyeri, appeared before the panel on February 19, 2015. He was dismissed for being “dishonest, lacking integrity and possessing fake academic transcripts.” He challenged the decision and appealed.

Meanwhile, the traffic department had the most officers dismissed in the history of the vetting.

Some 127 traffic officers, out of the 904 vetted, were dismissed, according to the police commission chairman Johnston Kavuludi.

The percentage of officers found unsuitable after vetting shot to 14 per cent from 4 per cent.

“The fact that 127 officers out of the 904 traffic officers so far vetted have been removed is a clear demonstration of the endemic vice of corruption in the Traffic Department,” said Mr Kavuludi.

The vetting of all officers at the rank of constable to chief inspector began in May.

Out of all the officers removed, 36 were from Coast, 23 Western, 50 Rift Valley and 18 Nyanza.

It took place at the Coast, Nyanza, Western and Rift Valley regions, targeted all officers from the rank of Constable to Chief Inspectors. Out of the 127 officers removed, 36 were from Coast, Western 23, Rift Valley 50 and Nyanza 18.

A total of 72 officers are pending investigations before their vetting results are determined while a further 26 officers removed after opting not to be vetted.

The commission also revealed that sufficient mechanisms had been put in place to monitor officers who have been dismissed to ensure that they remained law abiding.

Some of the reasons for the removal of the officers were unexplained financial transactions which included sending and receiving money from fellow police officers in the traffic department, operating matatu business or receiving money from transporters and operators of breakdown businesses. Other officers were dismissed because of professional misconduct

Mr Kavuludi revealed that the recent reorganization of the Traffic department was as a result of the the lessons learnt through the process of vetting.

“From now onwards, the traffic department has been devolve to the counties to facilitate closer supervision by the County commanders,” he said.

Out of 20 officers who applied for review of the commission’s vetting, six officers who had been dismissed earlier including the former Administration Police (AP) Spokesman Masoud Munyi passed the review. The other officers are Mr Wiliam Metto, Mr Japheth Ngatwa, Mr Chacha Daniel Chacha, Mr William Kariuki Ngugi, and Mr Festus Malinge Luruma.

12 officers failed the vetting review while one applied to retire. Another officer will wait for the results, pending the conclusion of a court case she filed against the commission

The vetting of officers from Kajiado, Nairobi, Central, Eastern, North Eastern regions are expected to begin soon.