• The Bill seeks to compel the National Police Service Commission to increase salaries and allowances of the officers.
• Calls for legislation that would bar the national police service commission from deducting huge chunk of their pay to the Saccos.
Image: FILE
Embakasi East MP Paul Ongili alias Babu Owino has drafted a Bill seeking to increase salaries of police officers.
The Bill seeking to amend the current National Police Service Act seeks to compel the government to increase the allowances of all police officers based on the nature of their work.
"The amendment seeks to provide a framework for increasing the salary of the police officers who put their lives on the line every day to protect Kenyans and their property," read part of the draft bill.
The legislator argues the officers go through "dangerous situations and deal with dangerous people hence making their job hard and dangerous."
In a letter to the Speaker outlining the proposal, Babu Owino wants the government to introduce a mechanism of rewarding better officers who go an extra mile in protecting the otherwise tainted image of the police.
He also wants the law to the National Police Service Commission from deducting a huge chunk of their pay to the Saccos.
"To provide mechanisms whereby the police officers with higher education qualifications will be paid according to their qualifications," the MP argues.
He says huge Sacco deductions has left a majority of officers with only Sh50 while others get negative pay credit to the Sacco's accounts.
The legislator said it is unfortunate that in the current modern society, a standard 8 drop-out, a form leaver with a D-, an undergraduate and a post-graduate officer get a similar pay within the current act.
"I want the act amended to provide a framework that will remove discrimination and lack of transparency in promotions and opportunities for officers," he said.
His draft comes even as the National Police Service Commission grapples to get a stable leadership that will spearhead reforms.
Among the much-hyped reforms is a plan to see the service get a new structure of command, change of uniform and digitization of its services.
Kenyan police are poorly paid and the majority live under squalid conditions in old police lines that have never been renovated since the 1970s.
This has demoralized many and made others susceptible to corruption and other crimes.
Extortion and bribery are synonymous with Kenya police.
The force has over the past few years been ranked as the most corrupt state agency by opinion polls.
In July 2010, the then Interior CS George Saitoti announced a 28 per cent salary increment for junior officers and a 25 per cent raise for senior officers.
This brought the maximum pay for junior officers and officers of the rank of Constable to Sh21,000 plus allowances.
Currently, new recruits earn Sh19, 120 with an annual increment of Sh500.
Their salary review will depend on the constitution of the incoming National Police Service Commission which is mandated to determine officers’ salaries.
The tenure of the previous NPS commission chaired chairman Johstone Kavuludi ended in October 2018 and a new one is yet to be formed.
Head of Corporate Affairs at NPS Patrick Odongo says the reforms will be an exercise in futility without looking at the salary gaps.
"We know we cannot be talking of reforms without serious consideration of welfare. If we can put the officers under good house allowance, commuter allowance, give them a good health cover and insure them then we shall be moving on the right track on the reforms," he said.