Take care of our police welfare but tackle bad policing culture

Anti riot police arrest an activist along Kimathi Street in Nairobi, during the marking of Saba Saba Day in Nairobi, on Wednesday, July 07 2021. [David Njaaga, Standard]

On December 21st last year, President William Ruto appointed a task force under the chairmanship of retired Chief Justice David Maraga on 'improvement of terms and conditions of service and other reforms for members of the National Police Service and Kenya Prison Service'.

This must have seemed like an early Christmas present for officers who have long complained of poor remunerations, deplorable housing conditions and a general neglect of their mental and physical welfare. Whatever reservations we may have about the conduct of police officers most would agree that they get a bad deal from their employer. The task force hit the road running and has covered a lot of ground already. They have visited police stations and prisons as well as holding public engagements in which large numbers of officers aired their grievances and presented proposals to improve their lot.

At Haki Yetu, we too made presentations in Kwale and Mombasa, because everyone benefits when we have healthy and happy public servants. The country has made many attempts to reform the police service but this is the first time that the primary focus has been on their overall welfare. This was presumed to be the mandate of the National Police Service Commission (NPSC), but it seems that the executive now wants to take up that responsibility for reasons still unclear.

Already, President Ruto has permitted the police service to manage its own budget for the first time as well as disbanding the elite squad responsible for extra-judicial killings.

However, with the emphasis on police welfare and 'any other reforms' as an almost afterthought, the impression here given is that if you treat the police and prison wardens with dignity, improve their wages, housing and promotion opportunities then the public will at last enjoy 'utumishi kwa wote'.

This is a half-truth at best for it does not address the rot in the police service and the resistance by both the police and the executive to any meaningful reform that would give the public the service that they deserve.

The vetting of traffic police promised radical change but delivered zero in terms of behavioural change as you will note the next time you witness proceedings at a checkpoint. The Maraga task force started its work on the day that three officers and an informer were sentenced for murder of the Mavoko 3.

The Eastleigh cop Rashid linked to many assassinations is trying desperately to avoid prosecution. Tsavo and Yala became the dumping ground for enforced disappearances and IMLU and IPOA still record instances of torture and death in custody on a daily basis. This police culture is a hangover from colonial times, whereby police were established to protect the state and its agents rather than provide security for citizens. This is what some call a Presidential Preference in the service whereby the state turns a blind eye to endemic corruption because they need the same officers to do their dirty work at critical moments. As long as most police reside in barracks like stations and not among their families in the community then community policing remains a pipe dream. It further illustrates that both the public and the police view each other with suspicion and fear.

I grew up in Northern Ireland with one of the most oppressive, sectarian and dangerous police forces in the world. It took decades for the British government to acknowledge that and set up a Commission of Inquiry under the chairmanship of Rtd. Governor of Hong Kong, Chris Patten.

His team came up with 175 recommendations in 1999 that addressed every aspect of reform and modernisation of the police service. Those proposals are still being implemented today but the change is visible, acceptable and inclusive.

Mr Maraga's team should do an equally comprehensive audit of the culture and welfare of Kenya's police. Increasing salaries without dismantling the culture will not make any difference to Wanjiku. What is required is a major overhaul to establish a service befitting the Constitution.