Tainted top police officers sacked

PHOTO | FILE National Police Service Commission (NPSC) chairman Johnson Kavuludi.  NATION MEDIA GROUP

In Summary

• The officer has, alongside nine others, been informed of the decision and is expected to leave office this week
• Meanwhile, Nairobi Governor Evans Kidero has rejected the nomination of Charlton Mureithi as head of security

By Nation Reporter
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A senior General Service Unit (GSU) officer who was in charge of a squad sent to Kibera to restore order during the 2008 post-election violence is one of those dismissed from the force.

The officer has, alongside nine others, been informed of the decision and is expected to leave office this week, according to National Police Service Commission (NPSC) chairman Johnson Kavuludi.

The officers have been sent home following complaints against them by the public.

FATE REMAINS UNKNOWN

The commission said it had investigated the complaints and found them to be true.

The GSU officer in charge of the Kibera operation, Senior Assistant Commissioner of Police (S/ACP) James Mwaniki of GSU headquarters was also in the news when he declined to record statements with International Criminal Court (ICC) investigators in February last year, claiming they had to seek consent from then police commissioner Mathew Iteere.

Others sent home are two senior officers from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations headquarters, two former Provincial Police Officers, and three senior Administration Police officers. One of the officers, however, requested for a session with the commission to clear his name. His fate remains unknown.

Some of the officers were last year interviewed by the NPSC for positions in the National Police Service. At time, the public was invited to take part in their vetting.

That was when the allegations against some of them were made.

Affected officers, the commission said, had been dismissed in the public interest as part of proposed reforms. The commission met and approved the proposals by Inspector-General of Police David Kimaiyo.

Mr Kavuludi on Wednesday said junior officers involved in criminal activities had also been warned that serious action would be taken against them.

In the last few months, several officers have been arraigned in court for alleged involvement in crime, especially armed robbery.

NOMINATION REJECTED

Meanwhile, Nairobi Governor Evans Kidero has rejected the nomination of former North Eastern Police Regional Coordinator Charlton Mureithi as head of security, claiming the inspectorate lacked regional balance.

Dr Kidero has demanded a list of at least three officers, together with their curriculum vitae so that his office can choose in a transparent and competitive way.

The governor has said top of his priorities are traffic jams and the matatu and hawkers’ menace.