A joint vetting committee of the Senate and National Assembly has approved the nomination of Engineer Japheth Koome as the new Inspector General of Police.

Koome now awaits President William Ruto’s appointment to take over from Hillary Mutyambai who resigned in September due to a medical condition.

Noor Gabow, the Deputy Inspector-General of Police, has been acting as IG since August 2022.

“This is to inform the general public that I will be away from the office attending to a medical check-up effective today.

“In my absence, Noor Gabow, the Deputy Inspector-General of Police in charge of Administration, will act as the IG of the National Police Service until my return,” Mutyambai said when he handed over to Gabow.

On Tuesday, November 8 during his vetting, Koome promised to transform the National Police Service (NPS) and offer protection for all Kenyans irrespective of region, tribe, or political affiliation.

The new IG will have to deal with the banditry menace which has rocked the northern part of Kenya in the past few months.

Koome questioned

While appearing before the committee, Koome had to fight off claims that his tenure as the Nairobi County Commander was marked with serious human rights violations, including police killings of unarmed protestors as well as children.

The police boss appeared before the Senate’s Standing Committee on National Security, Defence and Foreign Relations and National Assembly’s Departmental Committee on Administration and Internal Affairs Koome, who told the committee that his net worth stood at Sh89.9 million, was taken to task to explain how he will lead the police service yet he has a matter hanging on his head.

He, however, told lawmakers that he was not responsible for the death of a nine-year-old girl, Stephanie Moraa. He also denied raiding University of Nairobi hostels on September 29, 2017 as alleged in a petition lodged in Parliament against his appointment.

Zaina Kombo, who filed the complaint, wants Parliament to reject Koome’s appointment on grounds that he falls short of the requirements of Chapter Six of the Constitution.

“I want to leave here and not be seen as a killer. The 2017/2018 operation came when we were about to lose this country but we had to operate within the written law.

“I was the overall commander but commanding several sub-unit commanders. Following this incident the matter was investigated and nobody was found culpable. In fact, there was zero responsibility on me,” he said.

On the young girl who died in Mathare, he said that the matter was presented before a court of law.

“Officers gave evidence, family gave evidence and the matter was dealt with and I was not found culpable,” Koome told the legislators.

On the raid on the University of Nairobi, he said it was not his officers who invaded the institution but a different unit.

He told the committee that he had given clear instructions that no officer should invade the university unless on request from the Vice Chancellor.

“I am aware that some officers from another unit got into the university and this matter was investigated by IPOA and another officer was found culpable and punished,” he said.

Koome on extra-judicial killings

Koome promised to not only initiate reforms at the NPS but to also stop extra-judicial killings which he said will not happen under his watch as he will ensure that human rights will be respected.

On the new police uniforms he said he will engage his commanders to come up with a way forward on the matter as it has lowered the morale of officers.

“The truth is that officers are not happy with that uniform. You can imagine an officer leaving his residence wearing a uniform he does not like, that office is unhappy. What do you expect he will do?”

He assured the joint committee that he will always engaged other investigative bodies such as the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC), Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) and the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) to ensure that Kenyans get the best services as well as avoid conflicts.

On corruption, he said he will deal with the menace not only in the service but also in the recruitment of officers.

On mental issues of the officer, he said once approved he will form a directorate of wellbeing that will be chaired by a person whose ranks will be the level of Deputy IG, which will handle the wellbeing of officers following the rise of cases of officers dying by suicide.