Senior officers transferred amid anxiety

Some 16 senior police officers including former police spokesman Charles Owino have been moved and named to new positions in changes announced by police headquarters. The changes come amid growing anxiety among officers whose ranks are set to be scrapped.

Owino who has been Ndhiwa OCPD was moved to Kisumu, where he will be in charge of the directorate's security and operations in general.

Head of Faculty at Kiganjo Police Training College Leonard Katana was moved to Vigilance House at the training section and will be replaced by Charles Mumanthi while Banisa OCPD Mathew Ekakoro was moved to Mbeere South in the same capacity.

Mbeere South OCPD Bernstein Shari was moved to Railway headquarters. Ijara OCPD Abdi Galgalo was moved to police headquarters and replaced by Christopher Rotich.

The new Awendo OCPD is Daniel Ngugi while Nixon Makokha took over in Ndhiwa as the police boss. Isaac Odumbe was moved to Bungoma South as the OCPD, Abdi Abdulahi to Bureti, John Kilokwa to Magarini while Joel Lekuta was sent to Kakamega as head of operations. Patrick Olonyi was moved to Baringo County.

Ranking system

Concern is growing over the new ranking system. It has emerged that some members of the National Police Service Commission (NPSC) want the new ranks to be re-gazetted.

Interior Cabinet Secretary Joseph ole Lenku gazetted the new ranks, which include Senior Assistant Inspector General of Police, Assistant inspector General and Commissioner of Police for both regular police and Administration Police.

But the NPSC members want Lenku to gazette the ranks afresh and without clustering them in both regular and Administration Police. "We have told him to re-gazette the ranks because this means even CID will also demand theirs.

That is part of the reasons the ranks have stalled," said a commissioner who asked not to be named. The ranks scrapped include Senior Deputy Commissioner of Police, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Senior Assistant Commissioner of Police and Assistant Commissioner of Police in both regular and AP.