Police call out Senator Cleophas Malala for demeaning them at a political rally

The National Police Service has called out Kakamega Senator Cleophas Malala over demeaning remarks that he made at a political rally recently.

The lawmaker spoke on Tuesday, May 24 while on the campaign trail in Kakamega County.

Malala said intelligent members of society, who pass exams with good grades, should be sponsored to pursue more “meaningful” careers and leave the “uneducated and the dropouts” to scramble for vacancies in the police service.

Malala said “the only skill that police officers need is the ability to carry a firearm”.

“We as the National Police Service fraternity, including our dear families and friends, are utterly disappointed with such unwarranted and outrageous remarks, which we find too demeaning and only aimed at scandalising a noble profession deployed in the service and good of the public,” Police spokesperson Bruno Shioso said in a press statement dated May 25, 2022.

The police service said officers assigned to the department are “knowledgeable people”, and not illiterate as implied by Malala.

“Policing of communities is dependent on knowledge, and guns are only complementary tools to achieve efficiency of service, not otherwise,” said Shioso.

“We are more disappointed as police, given that these unfortunate remarks were made by a leader we not only hold in high esteem, but one we also continue to provide round-the-clock protection with pride and competency.”

Senator Cleophas Malala, on his Facebook page later Wednesday, apologised to the police service for his remarks.

“My attention has been drawn to a video circulating on social media about my utterances on the police. I wish to categorically state that my remarks were taken totally out of context. Their importance to us cannot be overlooked.  It is in light of this that I wish to withdraw my remarks and apologise to our disciplined forces for the discomfort my remarks may have caused,” he said.