• The Constitution calls for an independent police service but the Interior ministry has not transferred authority to incur expenses to the IG
• Police appear to be doing the bidding of the executive, Interior CS a political appointee.
Rights groups want the Inspector General of Police to be financially independent of the Interior ministry and to have his own budget.
The Police Reform Working Group wants the IG and the entire National Police Service to be de-linked from the Interior ministry to "safeguard the independence of the country's policing apparatus", it said in a statement.
Financial independence will protect it from political and executive interference, the group said.
IG Hillary Mutyambai was sworn in on Monday. He spent years in the Intelligence Service and is an expert in counter-terrorism operations.
"Despite constitutional and statutory requirements on the independence of the National Police Service and the Inspector General, the Interior ministry has not transferred authority to incur expenses to the IGP," the groups said in their list of expectations of the new IG.
The group which includes Amnesty International and the International Justice Mission had compiled a document listing what they expect in Mutyambai's first 100 days in office.
The lobbies say that as the IG depends directly on the budget from the ministry, his ability to determine critical expenditures is shackled
"The fact that the IG cannot exercise direct authority over expenses means he cannot independently plan, prioritise, budget and reallocate resources based on the needs and realities on the ground," the document reads.
The rights defenders praised the 2018 reforms started by former IG Joseph Boinnet, which handed officers commanding stations (OCS) the authority to incur expenses in their areas of command.
"OCSs are now in charge of and can be held accountable for the public resources and respond directly to resources," they said.
Amnesty International executive director Houghton Irungu yesterday told the Star that making the IG financially independent would make his office answerable directly to Kenyans.
"Kenyans should be able to audit his performance through the office of the Auditor General just like other heads of institutions."
HAKI Africa's executive director Hussein Khalid said the push to delink the police from the Interior ministry is aims to make the service remain apolitical and professional.
"As the entire police budget is dependent on the Ministry of Interior, the IG must rely on the CS Fred Matiang'i, who is a presidential appointee. This erodes the police autonomy," Khalid said in a statement. He said Parliament should directly set the police budget.
He said that currently, the police appear to be doing he bidding of the executive.
"Having a National Police Service that owes allegiance to the executive is one reason that has made police reforms perennially impossible. Independence from the executive would ensure an accountable Police Service," he said.
(Edited by Rosemary Wamochie)