New recruits during a passing out parade at the National Police College Main Campus in Kiganjo, Nyeri County.
Relatives, friends and mistresses of senior police officers are among beneficiaries of recent promotions announced by acting Inspector General of Police Gilbert Masengeli.
Well-connected police officers, some of whom are yet to attain the necessary requirements, have also been promoted in a process that has sparked claims of favoritism and nepotism.
At least 200 police officers in the lower ranks (constable and corporal) received their promotion letters last week following the directive by Mr Masenegeli, Nation.Africa has learnt.
These merit promotions have drawn mixed reactions from the rank and file in the police service.
Mr Masengeli and National Police Service Commission chair Eliud Kinuthia did not respond to queries by the Nation on these promotions.
In text messages, the Nation had sought to know from Mr Masengeli how the list of officers to be promoted had been arrived at and what was the special consideration for those that had benefited.
Separately, the Nation asked Mr Kinuthia if the commission was involved in the promotions and if the acting IG had the powers to effect the promotions.
Multiple officers who spoke to the Nation on these promotions said some senior police officers who were tasked with the responsibility of picking officers for promotion had taken advantage of the situation and forwarded names of their relatives.
In one instance, at one of the police units, the daughter of a senior police chief and his driver are among those whose names were forwarded for consideration for the promotions.
The daughter of the senior officer is only two years in service.
“We have some old officers, some who have been in the low ranks for over 20 years. Why the daughter who is still very new in the service?” posed an officer.
In one of the police stations in Nairobi, a senior police officer who is in the rank of Inspector of Police was promoted to the rank of a Chief Inspector of Police yet colleagues said he had only served as an inspector for three months.
The National Police Service Commission on May 22, 2015, developed guidelines to be followed in police promotions.
Under the legal notice No 88, then NPSC chair Johnstone Kavuludi and his team passed the guidelines stating the commission shall determine all police promotions.
These guidelines are available on the commission website which is publicly accessible.
For a police officer to qualify for promotion through merit, he or she is required to meet certain qualifications.
The issues to be considered include aptitude, skills, knowledge, experience and personal qualities relevant to the carrying out of the duties in question.
The guidelines state that the officer should have performed satisfactorily in the previous post besides acquiring the relevant education qualifications.
The officer should also not be tainted with corruption.
In the event of promotion of officers below the rank of Superintendent of police, the Act states that the commission can delegate this function to the IG.
The commission will be required to write to the IG, giving him powers to do the promotions on behalf of the commission.
“Where promotions are delegated to the Inspector-General, the — promotions may be commenced after a written notification of the commencement of the process to the Commission,” the guidelines state.
The last time the police service had an acting IG was on August 26,2022, when then Deputy Inspector General in charge of Administration Police Noor Gabow was appointed the acting IG.
Mr Gabow who has since been redeployed to the public service did not conduct any promotions as acting IG.
