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| he chairman of National Police Service Commission Johnston Kavuludi (left) confers with commissioner Mursid A. Mohammed (right) in this file photo. The NPSC has defended the controversial police appointments January 29, 2013 |
NPSC chairman Johnstone Kavuludi said the commission was satisfied with the nominees’ integrity and gave the green light for their recommendation.
“The commission was satisfied with the candidates and where integrity issues were raised we recalled the person and ensured that they were cleared before they were recommended,” said Mr Kavuludi during a TV interview aired on KTN Tuesday.
On Saturday, Prime Minister Raila Odinga rejected the appointments of Grace Kaindi and Samuel Arachi as deputy inspector generals and Ndegwa Muhoro as CID director saying the appointments were unconstitutional and the integrity of the three was questionable.
The Police Act says that the name of the Inspector General of Police should be subject to parliamentary approval while other positions will be appointed by the President.
Section 13(6-7) of the Police Act states: “The President shall, within seven days of receipt of the names forwarded under subsection 5, by notice in the Gazette, appoint a person as the Deputy Inspector-General. For purposes of appointment of the Deputy Inspector General before the establishment of the Commission, the procedure set out in the Third Schedule shall apply, except that the provisions in the Schedule requiring approval by Parliament shall not apply.”
Mr Kavuludi said the controversy is politically motivated and has nothing to do with the integrity of the individuals.
“We did a thorough job and even if interviews were to be called again with the same individuals, they would still emerge the best. They are persons of integrity who are fit for the job,” said Mr Kavuludi.
The NPSC chairman also noted that President Kibaki and the PM had violated the law since the appointments were to be effected seven days after the recommendation.
“The principals violated the law, the names are to be forwarded seven days after we forwarded the names but it has taken three months. But the Commission does not have a problem with the appointments since we cleared the individuals.”
Last week, Head of Public Service Francis Kimemia said a report clearing Mr Muhoro was sent to the Office of the President and that of the PM by the National Intelligence Service and NPSC.
“When consultations over a single nominee did not yield fruit, we went ahead and made the appointments. An uncertain police is a recipe for chaos. How do you run a country by chancing? The IG needs deputies to implement his directive and that of NPSC,” said Kimemia.
Commissioner Murshid Abdalla said the appointments did not mean the door is closed in so far as the integrity of the officers is concerned.
“In case of an arising issue, people should come and report to us, we will then interdict, investigate and give a full report on the same on whether they should retain their jobs or will be cleared,” said Mr Abdalla. -Daily Nation
