On the night of August 10, last year, Sergeant Francis Singila from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) Operation Support Unit and his officers stormed a house in Mwihoko area, Githurai sub-county.
The operation at around 11pm was the culmination of a two months’ investigation targeting a man wanted for a series of robberies in Nairobi, Kajiado and Kisumu.
Investigators were optimistic they had finally cornered the main suspect identified as Ndienya who was reported to be armed and dangerous.
The police officers knocked on the door but there was no response. They forced their way into the house.
Once inside, all hell broke loose. Bullets were fired from one of the bedrooms. The suspect was using his wife and children as human shields.
The police were, therefore, hesitant to fire back. Inside the sitting room, Singila and his team took cover.
The gunfight went on for about two minutes. When guns fell silent, Ndienya was dead. Police recovered a Ceska pistol which had been robbed from a police officer in Kisumu, authorities said.
Singila and constable Andrew Nyakundi had also been seriously injured in the gunfight. Singila spent three months at a Nairobi hospital where he was treated for the bullet wounds.
Nyakundi was also admitted in the same hospital died on October 11. Singila has been promoted to the rank of senior Sergeant of Police in latest promotions.
And on November 20, last year, police officers escorting Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) examination papers to Mahero Secondary School in Siaya were attacked by unknown gunmen.
One officer died and his colleague sustained serious injuries during the attack that occurred a few meters from the school gate.
Police officers lost their guns when they were ambushed as they disembarked from the bus that had transported them to collect the examination papers from Siaya County headquarters.
A team from the DCI head quarter’s Operation Unit was deployed to Siaya to track the criminals and recover the stolen weapons.
Two days later, the investigators recovered the stolen guns during an early morning raid at a house in Hawinga area. Two suspects who were in the house were shot dead during the gun fight.
National Police Service Spokesperson Resila Onyango confirmed the recovery of the MP5 and an AK47. Also found in the house were 10 empty cartridges of different caliber.
The names of these officers are contained in the latest list of 134 DCI officers awarded merit promotions by acting Inspector General of Police Gilbert Masengeli.
The list was released on Tuesday night on the back of outrage over claims of nepotism and favoritism in the initial promotions.
Most of these 134 officers had stagnated in the same position and are now five years to the retirement age of 60.
There was uproar in the rank and file of the police after the initial list of beneficiaries emerged on Tuesday.
Protests that relatives, friends and mistresses of senior police officers were among individuals who have benefited from the promotions rocked the service.
Well-connected police officers, some of whom are yet to attain the necessary requirements, were also among the beneficiaries sparking outrage.
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 exploited 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.
“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.
This is even as the National Police Service Commission Chairman Eliud Kinuthia defended the promotions of more than 340 junior police officers.
Kinuthia, in a telephone call with the Nation on Wednesday, insisted that the merit promotions announced by Masengeli were conducted in a transparent manner.
"Everything done was above board," Kinuthia said, adding that the commission would provide more details at a press briefing scheduled for Thursday in Nairobi.
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.
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.
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.
