•Committee chairman Paul Koinange says the house policy that allows police officers to rent houses within their area of jurisdiction should be abolished.
•Notes that the implementation of police house policy was rushed without proper consideration.
The Parliamentary Committee on Administration and National Security wants police officers to stay within their stations.
The Parliamentary Committee on Administration and National Security wants police officers to stay within their stations.
Committee chairman Paul Koinange said the house policy that allows officers to rent houses within their area of jurisdiction should be abolished.
“We need to reconsider the earlier arrangements allowing officers to stay away from their stations,” Koinange said.
He said officers should stay within the stations for easy coordination during operations.
Koinange, who led the committee members on a fact-finding mission in Kisumu, said the implementation of police house policy was rushed without proper consideration.
He was accompanied by MPs Peter Kaluma (Homa Bay), Shakeel Shabbir (Kisumu East), Oku Kaunya (Teso North), and Kavinga wa Thayu (Mwea).
The committee members visited the Kisumu Central police station.
“It becomes difficult for officers commanding stations to round up his officers in case of an operation, especially at night,” he said.
“…. You might find the mobile phones of some officers are off making it hard to reach them.” Koinange added.
The committee, he said, will be visiting a number of stations in the Nyanza region to see if the police reforms are being implemented as required.
They will also tour Homa Bay, Kisii, and Migori counties. He said the recommendations they will make as a committee will guide the budgeting process for the National Police Service.
“The visit will enable us to know how many vehicles to be allocated, officers to be deployed and walkie talkies to be given to every station,” he said.
The legislator said they plan to visit about 40 counties to enable them to write a recommendation. He said they have noted inadequate police vehicles, and that the committee will recommend to the national government to provide more.
"The police mobility is very important to allow them to perform their duties effectively. Police officers cannot move from a station to a scene of a crime without a vehicle. We need to provide more vehicles to them,” Koinange said.
He added that they are also looking into the welfare of the officers, transfers and promotion and infrastructure.
Edited by EKibii