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Eight shortlisted candidates for the positions of Deputy Inspector General for both National and Administration Police services yesterday appeared before a seven-member panel drawn from the National Police Service Commission (NPSC) for interviews.

The position was left vacant after President William Ruto appointed then DIG Douglas Kanja to the position of Inspector General of Police in an acting capacity following the sudden resignation of Japhet Koome.

All the candidates vying for the DIG post are required to be of the rank of Assistant Inspector General of Police and above.

Those who appeared before the Eliud Kinuthia-led Commission for the Kenya Police DIG were the Coast Region Police Commander George Sedah, Eliud Lagat, Tom Odero and Vincent Makokha.

On the other hand, Gilbert Masengeli, Margaret Karanja, James Kamau and Masaoud Mwinyi were interviewed for the Administration Police DIG position.

Other members of the panel include IG Kanja, Director of Criminal Investigation (DCI) Amin Mohamed Commissioners Edwin Cheluget, John Ole Moyaki, Lilian Kiamba and National Police Service accounting officer Bernice Sialaal.

The commission published the names of the candidates on Friday as part of public participation in the appointment.

“The office is now under a caretaker and the law requires that immediately the appointing authority declares that there are changes in that office. My office is mandated by the law to exactly take 14 days and give a report to the appointing authority on a suitable candidate that we will be recommending for substantive appointment to this position,” NPSC chairman Eliud Kinuthia said.

He added: “So the process that the commission is undertaking here is a competitive recruitment, competitive filling of a vacant position, which is guided by the law and, more specifically, Section 14 of the National Police Service Act and also Article 32, which requires that the commission or the parliament or the president, whenever an appointment or a promotion is being done, it must be done in a competitive way.”

Structured process

According to Kinuthia, the interviewees were taken through a structured process of engagement as the panel sought to evaluate their preparedness and their readiness to perform in the office of DIG.

Coming at a time when the country has witnessed protests that have been married by acts of hooliganism, the commission is hard-pressed to pick a competent officer to arrest the situation.

Kinuthia termed the interviews as ‘an internal competition’ of the commission’s staff.

“There is nobody who comes from outside the police service who is qualified to compete for this position. So we are dealing with our staff, staff whom we know, staff whom we have seen perform, and we know their competencies,” he emphasized.

He added that the requirement for this position, you must be a serving police officer who has attained the rank of Assistant Inspector General and above.

“We are looking at an all-around person, a good leader, a good commander, a person who can be confident to lead the officers of other ranks below, and also a person who can be able to lead change and reforms in the National Police Service,” the chairman stated.

The chairman said there are a lot of reforms that are ongoing right now in the National Police Service, and that the incoming DIGs will be tasked to boost the morale of the officers, by offering sound leadership and guidance to the officers as per the police Standing Orders.

After the interviews, NPSC will forward their recommendations to President William Ruto for him to appoint the best-suited candidate.

Gender balance

For the first time, the commission will be interviewing female officers as clamour for gender balance in public offices intensifies.

 “We’ve tried to have a gender distribution to the best that we could. There are men and women who applied. We’ll also be meeting candidates of both gender, women and also men in this. And all of them will have a fair and equal opportunity before this panel,” Kinuthia assured.

The commission said that it had established a portal where members of the public can post their queries about any officer who was being interviewed.

 “And should we find merit in whatever complaint or whatever issue that has been raised, we will be able to address it here and make the right decision,” Kinuthia said.

He added: “You know where our country is. We know what role the police officers play in this country to maintain law and order and to ensure that life and property is also secured.

As Kenya stares from the aftermath of the month long protest, Kinuthia urged the public to support the police in their mission to maintain law and order.

“I want to call my fellow Kenyans at this moment, it is time to support our police officers so that they can be able to perform their duty with morale. Police officers are human beings. They are our sons and daughters,” Kinuthia said.

He added: “We saw in the previous days that have been there, we’ve seen some very good Kenyans who have assisted the police officers in the cause of doing their duty. We have seen police officers being supported, even being helped from being harmed by the citizens of this country. I want to commend such good gesture by the citizens.”

Additionally, he called on security officers do exercise restraint when handling protestors following the public outcry of police brutality during the Gen Z’s protests.