The police employer wants the position of the Inspector General of police to be rotated among three units of Kenya Police, the Administration Police and the Directorate of Criminal Investigations.
The National Police Service Commission appeared before the National Taskforce on the improvement of terms and conditions of police and prison officers and argued this will ensure equity in the service.
The commission argued all past IGs have been from KPS.
“The commission recommends a policy on rotational headship and rise to the top command of the IG- NPS from among the constituent service of NPS i.e KPS, APS & DCI.”
The rotation system is used in the military where Kenya Army, Kenya Airforce and Kenya Navy produce a general at a time.
It also recommended the amendment to section 28 of the NPS Act, 2011 to deliberately bar members from outside DCI to become heads of DCI.
NPSC appeared before the team and urged the lowest-paid police officer earning Sh20,300 to be paid Sh36,450.
“Increase the basic salary of a Police Constable by 79 per cent from Sh20,390 to Sh36,450 to compensate for the long period police officers have stagnated without Basic salary review.”
It asked that leave allowance be equivalent to one month's salary, and maternity dress allowance be at Sh30,000.
It recommended that extraneous allowances currently payable to officers attached to Huduma Centers, GSU G Company and DCI officers attached at the Criminal Records Office be enhanced and expanded to cover all formed/ specialized units.
It recommended that officers injured in the line of duty who cannot perform their duties be retired and given a decent package.
Post-retirement medical cover for officers in the military and National Intelligence Service.
The commission wants police to revert to the old police uniform for general duty officers.
They currently use the deep blue uniform introduced in 2019.
The Eliud Kinuthia team also recommended the Marine Police Unit be reverted to the NPS from the Military's Kenya Coast Guard Services.
It added there has been a lack of clarity on the role of the unit following the establishment of the Kenya Coast Guard Service (KCGS) in October 2018.
It recommended that the geographical jurisdictions of both the police and the KCGS be streamlined.
It added the Police Airwing should revert to police from the current National Air Support Department (NASD).
The Airwing is currently grounded due to the dispossession of helicopter and fixed aircraft from the NPS to the NASD in September 2020.
The team asked that the Internal Affairs Unit (IAU) be given financial autonomy to enable it to work effectively.
Currently, they rely on IG for such. Recruits should also have medical cover during their training.
This will ensure that they are catered for in case of injuries and sickness.
Promotion on merit should be done away with and all officers to be promoted must attend courses at various training colleges, NPSC said.
The service and the Commission should be allowed to recruit civilians to perform non-core duties.
Kinuthia said it costs close to Sh800,000 to train an officer and it was not right to deploy them to perform, for example, to perform clerical duties.
“We need to focus more on the salary and allowances. This will ensure that officers get reasonable pension upon retirement," Kinuthia said.
“The President is the one who appoints the IG. We recommend that Parliament propose names, they should consider the services and the background," Kinuthia said.
"There are 1474 civilian staff in the service. During recruitment, five per cent should be civilian staff to ensure that officers only perform core duties," vice Chair Alice Otwala said.
It said an officer be required to have served in a duty station for a continuous period of at least one year and a maximum period of three years before being transferred.
“Transfers shall be made between the last week of November and the third week of December every year except in exceptional circumstances as approved by the Commission.”
To ensure transfers are fair and just, there is a need to automate officers’ records to effectively track the transfers.
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