• Interior Cabinet Secretary said the handbook demonstrated the efforts the National Police Service (NPS) has invested in its preparedness for the polls.
• The meeting was also attended by, Interior PS Dr Karanja Kibicho, and Inspector General of Police Hilary Mutyambai.
Image: CYRUS OMBATI
The National Police Service on Friday launched manual outlining guidelines for managing the upcoming general elections.
The Election Security Management Manual for Police Commanders details measures that police are expected to take under various circumstances during the elections to provide the security of the poll.
Speaking in Nakuru during the launch of the handbook, Interior Cabinet Secretary said the handbook demonstrated the efforts the National Police Service (NPS) has invested in its preparedness for the polls.
“We have been talking a lot about the election security management manual and the preparations that have been done to prepare our police officers to manage our electoral process.
"It is very important to work in an institutionalised manner because that’s what demonstrates how a disciplined unit or disciplined Service we are.”
The manual prescribes the principles of impartiality, equal treatment, accountability and rule of law by security agents and provides procedures for complaints against election security personnel.
He scoffed at claims that the Government through the police was scheming to usurp the role of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission.
“We do not conduct elections. Elections are conducted by the IEBC. We only support the Commission to conduct elections. When the chairman of the IEBC tells us how many officers are needed to support his process of conducting the elections, we will be ready and present to do exactly that,” he said.
The reference handbook contains response mechanisms to election security in a collaborative and coordinated manner among National Police Service agencies.
It outlines approaches to the functions of the police during elections: maintenance of law and order; provision of security during the election process; and detection of election offences and bringing of offenders to justice.
It also takes into account the impact insecurity has on the integrity of elections and identifies issues of public disorder, criminal gangs, political incitement, election-related violence and election offences as potential threats.
The CS defended the police against claims of not doing enough to contain rival gangs in political rallies saying officers will not be misused to arbitrate disputes around the distribution of campaign cash bribes and other merchandise.
“There is a new trend we are beginning to see of ‘crowd consultants’ in our country. If you want a crowd, you pay some people to mobilize groups to your meeting. When conflicts emerge, police officers cannot be blamed for not doing anything in such cases. It's not our job, as the security sector to mediate bribery contracts.”
“If you go to this rally and that rally and promise millions and billions, which you don’t give people, we cannot hold surety for your false promises.”
The manual also provides for the mobilization of additional security agencies including the Kenya Prison Service, Kenya Wildlife Service, Kenya Forest Service among others to support the police during elections.
The development of the manual was funded by the British government through UKAid with the input made possible by collaboration between the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP), Judiciary Working Committee on Election Preparations, Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) and the National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC).
The meeting was also attended by, Interior PS Dr Karanja Kibicho, and Inspector General of Police Hilary Mutyambai.