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The board conducted assessment to all officers serving in Nairobi between May 25 to June 9 and will be pitching camp in Nakuru and Eldoret next week.
- From Nakuru, the team will head to Kisumu for the Nyanza region and later to Western part of the country.
Image: COURTESY
The National Police Service Commission has embarked on a countrywide mental assessment of police officers.
This comes when the country is witnessing a shocking surge in cases of suicide and murders within the service.
The exercise which started in Nairobi in May is meant to ascertain the mental fitness of officers to continue carrying out their police work.
NPSC chairman Eliud Kinuthia on Thursday told National Assembly’s Committee on Administration and National Security that the commission has set up a medical board that is carrying out assessments on all officers.
“The commission has established a special medical board to conduct the degree of mental illnesses affecting members of the National Police Service.
"This will inform cases that need referral for specialised treatment and any other interventions,” Kinuthia told MPs.
Ministry of Health has seconded five medical doctors to the board.
“The medical board has so far assessed officers in Nairobi. The assessment for the rest of the officers across the country is ongoing,” the commission’s vice-chairperson Dr Alice Olwande added.
The board conducted assessment to all officers serving in Nairobi between May 25 to June 9 and will be pitching camp in Nakuru and Eldoret next week.
From Nakuru, the team will head to Kisumu for the Nyanza region and later to Western.
The entire exercise is expected to end in November.
Inspector General of Police Hillary Mutyambai said the outcome of the ongoing assessment will be crucial in addressing mental illness within the service.
The illness has seen a number of police officers killing their colleagues and turning guns on themselves.
“The board is meeting each and every officer and assessing them individually. They will come up with statistics because this is an area which requires data,” the police boss said.
The committee chaired by Limuru MP Peter Mwathi was meeting the commission to be apprised on the measures put in place to protect police officers.
They also addressed the challenges associated with psychological, mental, social and emotional welfare of officers in the face of suicides and murders within the NPS ranks.
There have been concerns on increasing and worrying wave of killings among police officers.
In some instances, the officers either commit suicide or turn their guns on colleagues before taking their lives in the most bizarre manner.
But according to deputy Inspector General of Police Edward Mbugua, a more holistic approach should be adopted in addressing officers' welfare.
Mbugua said officers go through a lot in the line of duty with minimal support; something he noted is linked to the mental instability within the service.
He said most police stations are not only understaffed, but have no funds to facilitate movement, forcing commanders to use their own money.
"We are addressing the symptoms and not the root cause of why these officers are going through depression. In the last 20 to 25 years, we never needed counsellors to counsel these officers," Mbugua said.
Long working hours and lack of retraining are some of the issues he noted have led to depression within the service.
"We have 400 police stations in this country without police vehicles. How do they go to the crime scenes?"
The DIG told MPs that unless the working environment is improved, police officers will continue to suffer from depression and stress.
(Edited by Bilha Makokha)