Police officers say they have not vacated government houses as directed because their new house allowances are not enough to pay rent in safe residential areas.
Officers who spoke confidentially to the Star expressed fears that they may be forced to live in slums where they will be exposed to danger from the criminals they fight.
There is disquiet in the police service after the new house allowances they were promised were substantially slashed – as much as by half for those in the lower cadres.
Officers who have families said they will face difficulties living in a single room since their allowance is inadequate.
They said they are having difficulties finding suitable accommodation in cities like Nairobi where rents are high.
Under the new housing plan, police officers were to move into private residential houses beginning this month.
The Ministry of Interior categorised police housing allowance into three clusters. Officers based in Nairobi were initially to get Sh18,124.
Those in cluster two and three are officers based in other counties and were are supposed to receive Sh13,124 and Sh8,124.
They says once other deductions like pay-as-you-earn and running expenses like water and electricity are factored in.
A sergeant in Nairobi will earn Sh9,800 as house allowance and Sh4,00 as commuter allowance. Those serving in Mombasa, Kisumu, Nakuru, Nyeri, Eldoret, Thika, Kisii, Malindi, Kitale and Kakamega were to get Sh7,300.
Senior police officers’ house allowances was proposed to be between Sh40,000 to Sh55,000.
The Interior ministry said the figures were reviewed by the Salary and Remuneration Commission, the Public Service Commission and the Treasury.
The was based on government policy that allowances should not be half of what employees earn as basic salary.
The bulk of police officers are constables, the lowest rank. The lowest paid officer gets Sh19,290 following a slight increment last September.
Despite the introduction of commuter allowance, police officers are still unhappy, saying the amount is little. Paying junior officers house allowance would save the government between Sh2 billion to Sh3 billion spent on electricity, water and other bills, and more than Sh1 billion on leasing houses.