Nairobi (HAN) December 18, 2005- The recent Kenyan police recruitment drive was riddled with corruption and the whole exercise should be cancelled, graft czar Aaron Ringera said last friday. A General Service Unit officer examines one of the job seekers who turned up for the recruitment. Photo by Joseph Kiheri The public interest in having a clean police force demanded such drastic action in spite of the cost, he said.

Open bribery and canvassing were rife and some of the recruiting officers were even video-taped demanding or receiving bribes from people hoping to join the police.

Abdi Omar of Somali Kenyan Community in North America requests that people publicize this violation of justice and public rights widely and write letters to the leaders of the European donors, Human Rights and specially - President Kibaki, Chief Police Commissioner, Chief Justice and others, and also to the Kenyan press. He appeals the Kenyans in Diaspora to support  Police commissioner Mohammed Hussein Ali's actions for suspensions and future internal security involvement of bribes. 


More than 100 senior officers were suspended yesterday and the results of the countrywide police recruitment programme cancelled following allegations of widespread corruption

The officers were among 175 policemen and women sent home as the Government acted swiftly on the allegations by Kenya's anti-graft chief.

It means everyone involved in the recruitment, the innocent as well as the guilty, has been sent home pending the result of an investigation into the graft claims.

Police commissioner Mohammed Hussein Ali, announcing the suspensions – ordered by Internal security minister John Michuki – also announced that he had revoked admission letters already issued to 3,000 new recruits.

Suspended were 13 senior superintendents, 29 superintendents, 33 chief inspectors and 27 inspectors; all senior positions with their holders referred to as gazetted officers. 

All of them also hold responsible posts in the force. For instance, Officers commanding police divisions (OCPDs) are senior superintendents while station commanders (OCS) are inspectors.

In addition 33 sergeants, 27 corporals and 13 constables were suspended pending investigations.

More officers could be suspended then sacked depending on the outcome of the probe.

The suspensions came after Mr Michuki called Maj-Gen Ali to his office after the findings by Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission (KACC) were revealed.

The two also spoke at length on the telephone.

The Nation also learnt that Maj-Gen Ali sent a senior officer to KACC's headquarters at Integrity Centre, Nairobi, shortly after the commission's findings were released on Thursday.

The police wanted KACC director Aaron Ringera to release video clips secretly recorded at some recruitment centres, but he refused, promising instead to send a detailed report later.

Maj-Gen Ali yesterday praised Mr Justice Ringera's team for exposing the corruption that marred the recruitment conducted in all districts in the country between December 5 and 13.

"I wish to commend them for their effort in exposing such incidents," he said.

He added that the KACC report did not conceal the identity of alleged perpetrators regardless of their status.

According to Mr Justice Ringera, bribery and canvassing were rife and some recruiting officers were video-taped demanding or receiving bribes from people hoping to join the force.

The police chief said the new recruits were issued with admission letters to join police training college at Kiganjo or the GSU training school, Embakasi, early next year but should consider them invalid.

An official statement from Integrity Centre termed Maj-Gen Ali's action as "brave, bold and radical".

The statement signed by KACC public relations officer Nicholas Simani promised to give police headquarters more details concerning the marred recruitment.

"The commission will forward to the police commissioner a detailed report on its findings and shall continue to work together with the police in efforts to stem the vice out of the forces," Mr Simani said.

The police chief, who was addressing journalists at his headquarters, said: "I have today cancelled the results of the entire recruitment exercise.

"Additionally, I have with immediate effect interdicted all officers involved in the recruitment exercise pending the outcome of investigations into their personal conduct during the exercise."

The investigations, which he indicated would start immediately, should be completed in 30 days. Then, police officers implicated in its findings, regardless of their rank, will be sacked and charged in court.

"Anybody implicated will be dealt with internally and also prosecuted in a court of law," said Maj-Gen Ali.

But police will have to investigate themselves because no other body has been invited to do so. "We have the facilities and mechanisms to investigate," he said.

The police chief said he was angered by the actions of some of his officers, saying they had been warned in advance against corruption.

Now, he said, the same officers he briefed on zero tolerance to corruption – and in the presence of the media – had tainted the image of the force still further, after it was ranked top on a list of Kenya's most corrupt institutions less than a week ago.

"My briefing to the recruiting officers that was attended by the media was very clear on the need to recruit deserving candidates in a transparent and competitive manner," he said.

"Besides being a crime, such acts subvert the trust and confidence of our people and serve to alienate police from citizens at a time when we are committed to creating a partnership with them in fighting crime." 

He was referring to community policing project that was launched by President Kibaki earlier in the year.

He also cited the President's commitment to "zero tolerance to corruption."

"The Kenya police is extremely disturbed by reports of fraud and influence peddling observed at the just concluded recruitment exercise," he said.

Maj-Gen Ali also said the job by anti-corruption detectives had been well done.

"I invited KACC to monitor the exercise as part of our collective effort to eradicate corruption and they did well," he said.

While declaring the whole process null and void, the police boss said that fresh dates would be announced in the media for a new recruitment drive. By then, new measures would be in place to prevent similar incidents.

As the country's top police officer, Maj-Gen Ali said transparency and accountability were a prime part of his duties.

"Going by the position I hold in Government, I should be the last person to condone illegality," he said.

"It is not about the number of incidents reported, since I will not tolerate even a single criminal behaviour," he went on.

He invited anyone with evidence of irregularities to visit police headquarters or to write in with full details.

Investigations would not victimise those who performed their duties well, and they should have nothing to fear.

"Even in the absence of immediate tangible evidence, the perception that the conduct of the exercise was not above board is sufficient in my mind to nullify the exercise in its entirety," he said.

By doing so, police had not resorted to denying corruption because to do so would be unprofessional, unethical, illegal and tantamount to a cover up.

He also warned that investigations were intended to reach out to both givers and receivers of bribes; both would be subjected to legal proceedings. 

Among claims to be probed are:

Corrupt officers demanding Sh100,000 to guarantee jobs for women and up to Sh70,000 for men.

Other officers who were not part of the recruiting team visited interview centres to lobby for their children, relatives and friends to get the jobs.

Eighty per cent of the recruitment at sample centres monitored by corruption watchdogs was tainted.

More than 2,500 job-seekers turned up at some centres yet only 3,000 new officers were needed countrywide.

Six hundred women were recruited.

Police jobs are among the most sought after due to the guarantee of continuous employment. Unlike training for other professions like teaching and nursing, newly trained officers are immediately absorbed into the job market.

Also police salaries were raised by 115 per cent across the board when President Kibaki came to power in 2002, giving a constable a starting salary of Sh10,000 from Sh4,700. Sources: Daily Nation: Story by FRED MUKINDA