- Security expert George Musamali said a police officer is employed by the NPSC, which is mandated to deal with issues related to transfers.
- Political analyst Herman Manyora holds the same view terming the idea as invalid.
Image: NPS
A directive by the Cabinet Secretary for Interior and National Administration Kithure Kindiki that no police officer should serve in one station for more than 3 years is unfair and violates constitutional rights.
This is according to security expert George Musamali who told the Star that all matters of policy and the welfare of police officers were left to the National Police Service Commission (NPSC) when Kenya promulgated the new Constitution in 2010.
He said a police officer is employed by the NPSC, which is mandated to deal with issues related to transfers, welfare and recruitment.
"What CS Kithure Kindiki is doing is what we call roadside declaration because it is not covered anywhere in our Constitution and this is where we are getting it wrong," Musamali said.
Musamali who also served in the service as a General Service Unit (GSU) officer before quitting termed the directive a form of punishment for police officers.
"When we wake up one morning because of political pressure and wanting to please members of the public because of one reason or another then we are not being fair to these officers, we are using it as a form of punishment,’’ Musamali said.
According to the National Police Service Commission Act, 2011, transfers of police officers should not be used as a disciplinary sanction or reward measure.
"Upon being appointed in the Service, an officer may from time to time be transferred from one station to another station as the Commission may determine," the Act states.
The Act also mandates the NPSC to determine the transfer of police officers.
"Subject to Article 246 (3) of the Constitution, the mandate Authority to determine transfers shall lie with the Commission," the Act explains.
On how their families will be affected, Musamali urged that the directive will deny the affected officers to have families as they will be forced to move from one place to another.
"A police officer is human just like you and me. They also have their needs and one of them is having a functional family and this is what we are denying them,’’ Musamali said.
Political analyst Herman Manyora holds the same view terming the idea as invalid.
He said the order given CS Kithure Kindiki to transfer police officers who have served three years in one station should be implemented with consideration for the human aspect.
"It is important to take into consideration the interests of the officers because they have families," Manyora said.
"Abrupt transfers will disturb families."
The analyst opined that before the transfers are effected the state should think about the officers' children who may be attending schools in the areas where their parents are serving.
The CS on Wednesday stated that the NPSC has 60 days to implement the policy directive that no police officer should serve in one station for more than three years.
"No police officer should serve in one station for over three years. The signal communicating this directive has already been relayed," Kindiki said while appearing before the Senate.
The Interior boss further stated that any officer who does not comply with the 60-day directive will have their salary stopped forthwith.