A planned press conference by National Police Service Commission chairman Eliud Kinuthia was canceled at the last minute.
Kinuthia planned to hold the presser to oppose dozens of promotions that had earlier been announced by Inspector General of Police Japhet Koome.
However, the meeting at a hotel in Shanzu was cancelled with no explanation.
Sources said Kinuthia was called from above and warned against the plans, which forced him to withdraw.
Koome, his Deputy Inspector General of Kenya Police Douglas Kanja and Administration Police’s Noor Gabow are members of the commission.
They had announced the promotions amid differences with some commissioners.
They even sent letters to the affected officers informing them of their new ranks and congratulated them.
The IG sent a list to the commission offices in Westlands informing the chairman of the ranks, which needed ratification.
This has been the norm with police boards conducting interviews before promoting affected officers and later forwarding the names to the commission for ratification.
The promotions saw General Service Unit Commandant Eliud Lagat, Deputy Director of DCI Nicholas Kamwende and head of investigations at DCI Abdallah Komesha promoted to the rank of Senior Assistant Inspector General of police (S/AIG).
Also promoted was Internal Affairs Unit (IAU) Director David Birech.
All new regional police commanders were promoted to the rank of Assistant Inspector General of police.
But Kinuthia termed the move null and void announcing he had nullified the changes.
Kinuthia who was in Mombasa for an official meeting Tuesday called for a press conference at a hotel to denounce the promotions, which however did not take place.
Insiders say the fighting is out of a misunderstanding of the law, which has now seen tens of pending promotions lying unattended.
The group of commissioners led by Kinuthia have protested and accused others of usurping their mandate.
They say Koome’s decision on the promotion and recruitment of officers is illegal.
They now accuse IG of usurping its human resource functions.
But Koome said the constitution gives him the powers.
“Read the constitution. There is nothing new we have done,” he said.
Some of the NPSC commissioners, while appearing before the National Assembly’s Constitutional Implementation Oversight Committee (CIOC) on May 30, said in their endeavour to execute their mandate, faced several challenges and impediments, including the IG’s refusal to implement their decisions.
The commission said the ministry has been usurping its constitutional mandate without consultation.
NPSC chief executive Peter Leley and his members met the committee to highlight its progress in fulfilling its mandate as outlined in the Constitution, enabling legislation and developing regulations and policies.
The Commission maintained that Koome was subordinate to NPSC and should fully comply with the legal policy, and institutional regulatory framework guiding the team’s human resource functions.
