Commision questions transfer of 200 police officers

By Cyrus Ombati

Close to 200 police officers, most of them in the traffic department have been moved in changes made by the Inspector General of Police David Kimaiyo.

Most of those moved have been posted to various weighbridges across the country to replace others who had been removed.

This followed a request by the Kenya National Highways Authority Weighbridge Management, which complained of corruption and malpractice among the officers stationed there.

The affected weighbridges are Mariakani, Athi River, Gilgil, Webuye and Busia.

But the National Police Service Commission and some of the affected officers have opposed the changes terming them illegal.

The officers have moved to court to challenge the changes while the commission has summoned a meeting to discuss the directives.

Kimaiyo has moved 191 officers to various stations and posted 122 of them to the weighbridges. The officers include 31 who are above the rank of the Sergeant.

He made the changes without involving the commission in accordance with the law.

And after some of the affected juniors opposed the changes and moved to court, the police boss wrote to the commission on March 11 seeking for its approval.

Documents obtained from the office of the Inspector General show the commission wrote back to him seeking that they hold a meeting to discuss the matter.

The commission wrote to Kimaiyo seeking to know the criteria he used to select the officers for deployment to the weighbridge clusters.

“The assignment of officers to this specific sector would need to take into account gender parity, regional and ethnic balance. A close scrutiny of the list does not reveal observance if this cardinal consideration,” reads part of a letter to Kimaiyo from the commission.

The letter noted that Kenha made its request on January 16 beforeKimaiyo took action without the involvement of the commission.

“It is therefore not clear why an approval from the commission would be required for action already taken. It is useful to bring to your attention that the commission of which you are a member, needs to deliberate on this matter and take a well-informed decision.”

The law requires that for the IGP to make transfers, he has to get a gohead in writing from the commission for offices of the rank of Sergeant and above.

Kenha had explained that the management of the Weighbridges had been contracted to SGS Kenya Limited through five clusters.

“In the past, there has been a lot of corruption allegations involving both Kenha staff and police. In the new management through SGS Kenya Limited, we have taken a complete break with the past ensuring no Kenha staff is involved directly in the operations,” said M. Kidenda of Kenha.

He suggested that officers attached to the Axle Load Enforcement Unit report to Kimaiyo operationally and to Kenha on administrative matters.

Traffic and on particular the Axle Load Enforcement Unit is taken to be among the most lucrative area in the  police.

The issue of the transfers is the latest pitting the commission and IG. Some members of the commission have accused Kimaiyo of defying their orders, which he denies.