- Makori said it has revamped its Electronic Content Management system and established a remote data recovery centre to expedite cases
- She said the authority has broadened the accountability mechanisms to include command responsibility to ensure officers cooperate
Image: FILE
Police Watchdog IPOA now wants to be accorded a full membership status in the criminal justice top organ.
It says a seat in National Council on the Administration of Justice will strengthen its push for police oversight.
Chairperson Anne Makori told lobby group, Missing Voices, that though it is currently co-opted in NCAJ, it lacks the full capacity to leverage on the council to strengthen its hands.
She said being part of the council will help harness a holistic and hold the police accountable for alleged cases of impunity, brutality, forced disappearances and extrajudicial killings.
“Internally, IPOA constantly reviews its standard operating procedures for all its technical mandate functions with a view of enhancing efficiency. IPOA also through partnerships, capacity builds its technical staff for improved service delivery and quicker turnaround of cases,” Makori said.
Makori said it has revamped its Electronic Content Management system and established a remote data recovery centre to expedite cases.
“Appreciating the general challenge of non-cooperation by some police officers, the board tactically focused one of the key result areas of its strategic plan on stakeholder cooperation and collaboration,” she said.
The chairperson said she will deal with the non-cooperation and sometimes outright hostility of police towards oversight.
"This is through dialogue and gradual compliance to the various legal frameworks that guide police work,” Makori said.
She said the authority has broadened the accountability mechanisms to include command responsibility to ensure officers cooperate.
“For instance, in 2014, through IPOA’s recommendation for non-compliance a Station Commander was charged in court for refusal to submit evidence in a matter IPOA was investigating,” Makori said.
Between January last year and March, IPOA investigations have led to at least 14 convictions, with a cumulative 210 cases before courts since inception.
“The latest conviction being that of the four Majiwa Camp GSU officers convicted of the murder of a woman in Laikipia in March 2020 and that of former officer, Ahmed Golicha, the officer who shot two people killing one in Meta Meta Market, Mandera county, on October 1, 2017,” Makori said.
To ease operational efficiency, she said, the authority implemented a strategy for stakeholder engagement, including dialogue sessions with police officers of all cadre.
“This strategy converged senior police officers to discussion fora which articulated the agenda of transformative execution of policing services,” she said.
IPOA also put in place a strategy to fast-track review of cases to manage backlog, which contributed to faster delivery of justice for victims of police action/ inaction.”