Police spokesperson Charles Owino has denied that senior officers are mistreating an administration police officer who has threatened to commit suicide in a series of Facebook posts.
One of the latest posts by Apollo Kioria reads, "Just in case I die fighting for my rights, family, kindly don't bury in Murang'a.... at Langata cemetery. Don't bring flowers, instead go back to feed my hungry street families."
Kioria, 35, became an AP in 2006.
The father of two claims he was suspended and his salary stopped nine months ago for not reporting for duty in Murang'a, his home county, where he was initially transferred in 2013.
With no salary and a jobless wife, the officer's family is living in misery and might be thrown out of their rented house in Nairobi for rent default.
Owino told the Star that although he did not have the particulars of Kioria's case, the AP may have been disciplined for desertion.
"There is a problem with some of those AP officers. Most of them desert duty and we have reduced the period of desertion to 10 rather than 21 days. Once this happens, we stop their salaries," he said, adding, "Let him show you any correspondence he has if he is genuine."
According to him, the constable's story is convoluted, right from 2008 when he was moved to the Rapid Deployment Unit to combat Mungiki.
Kioria told the Star he was transferred from Embakasi to Kangema, Murang'a, in 2013.
"I occasionally received warnings from those who knew me in the area. But on September 30, 2013, a car hit me while on night patrol, rendering me 50 per cent incapacitated," he said. He believes the accident was a deliberate attempt on his life.
He had not fully recovered when he was transferred from Kangema to another part of the county, "further exposing me to Mungiki sharks and sympathisers". He did not report to the new station right away, hoping that the transfer would be revoked on health grounds.
For this, Kioria was charged with desertion in 2016 and later suspended. His salary was stopped. He successfully appealed the decision and was moved to the legal department. He was at the same time pursuing a Sh1.8 million compensation arising from the 2013 accident. But the file kept disappearing.
Nine months ago, one of his seniors instructed him to go back to Murang'a "because I would not be the first officer to die on duty."
This was followed by a suspension letter. His salary was again stopped. This has taken a toll on his health.
Kioria showed the Star documents, including letters he wrote to the National Police Service chief executive Joseph Onyango.
He is yet to receive a response from Onyango, who, however, told the Star he was not aware of the case and that "the commission would not be the one to handle such a matter."
