Sunday, January 8, 2012

It was strange for police spokesman to threaten mutiny



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By AHMEDNASIR ABDULLAHI
Posted  Saturday, January 7  2012 at  20:11
The deputy police spokesman, Mr Charles Owino, is a very brave man indeed.
His bravery lies somewhere between being utterly reckless and out of control and being suicidal.
When you look at his demeanour and facial expression, you will see that he is closer to the latter.
His bravery is not borne out in street battles he won against thugs and robbers but in press offices and burial ceremonies.
He is so brave that he has the temerity to announce a mutiny of the entire police at a future date.
It was a most strange announcement of mutiny that a spokesman of the Kenya police force ever made.
Mr Owino must have had the explicit support of his boss, the Police Commissioner, who it seems has not only authorised but probably even blessed the statement this week in which the deputy spokesman states that the rank and file of the police force would not accept a civilian as head of the police force.
How arrogant, big headed, ignorant and rebellious can Mr Owino and officers of his ilk get in the current dispensation?
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The gist of the statement was that if the yet-to-be instituted Police Service Commission and the ad hoc interviewing panel for the job of the inspector general and his/her two deputies don’t pick serving police officers, then members of the police force “will resist the appointees”.
Mr Owino, because he probably sees his future brighter as a politician, aptly made this announcement of police resistance during a burial ceremony in Kendu Bay, Homa Bay County.
Since the announcement, the Police Commissioner or the minister in charge of Internal Security have not seen it fit to comment on this grave threat to national security.
All are oblivious to Mr Owino’s wild statement and its ramifications on national security during a year of a very sensitive transitional General Election.
Defining features
There is no need to belabour the point that corruption and incompetence are the two defining features of the Kenyan police force.
Lack of independence from the executive, inadequate resources, tribalism and poor pay and remuneration have singularly and collectively created a police force that is functionally wanting in all sense of the word.
Police reforms, like judicial reforms, are high national priorities for the country. If Kenyans get the right police reforms, then we will continue in the right trajectory.
The law and order sector reforms are very critical in the rebirth of the country.
It will help the country to transform into one that is governed according to the law so that justice, peace, equality and fairness are the hallmarks of the country and its governance structures.
Mr Owino should be taught, if he isn’t past the learning age, that the police and other arms of the armed forces are in a democracy subject to civilian control.
The armed forces at the end of the day take their orders from the civilian in the command chain. If the police and army fail to obey the civilian command, then mutiny and rebellion will occur.
No one really can foretell who the next inspector general of the police will be. It is a position that will be filled competitively and transparently.
But if one statement may sway the panellists in their choice of the next inspector general of the police force, then it is that made by Mr Owino.
He forcefully drove the point of the urgent need to have a reformist as the head of the police. Mr Owino’s sentiment shows the shallow and selfish thinking of the top echelon of the police force.
Mr Owino’s statement shows that the old reactionary Kanu thinking is still prevalent in the top echelons of the force. The statement shows that the old order is resistant to reforms.The statement shows that officers of his ilk are more obsessed with ranks, power, perks and prestige than reforms and service to the public.
Ahmednasir Abdullahi is the publisher, Nairobi Law Monthly ahmednasir@yahoo.com

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