By MILAN KIPLAGAT

The 2022 General elections is just about a year away. Warnings have been issued, the risk of poll violence is glaring. But what happens when those who are supposed to assure public confidence in election security preparedness turn the guns on themselves and their ‘loved ones’? This is the current challenge daunting the police force as the officers are turning rogue and fighting against their own based on the recent happenings across the country.
The Kenya Police Service is a national body in charge of law enforcement in the country and a key agency in providing internal security. The police have a huge role to play in next year’s General election. Working alongside other agencies and institutions, the police force is meant to provide a leading role in ensuring adequate measures are put in place as far as the country’s election security preparations are concerned. By this, the force will be able to create public confidence which has great impact on reducing fear and anxiety.
However, it is an almost near impossibility for the disciplined force to attain public trust and confidence with a growing trend of rogue male and female officers within the force. A worrying trend and a cause of alarm, there has been sporadic killings among the uniformed officers who are either turning on themselves and their families including spouses and children or attacking acquaintances. In the recent past, police officers have committed heinous and uncomprehensive crimes that have left the public questioning whether we are safe in our own public spaces.
There is indeed a serious problem in the Police Service and it requires urgent address. These incidences are now giving the force a bad public image and tainting the trust and confidence so far attained. Kenyans have been waking up to gory news of police officers engaging in all sorts of crime-related offences. Just recently, a police officer was implicated in the death of his girlfriend after she fell from their apartment building, another female officer is a prime suspect in the killing of two men in two different counties. In another incident, a senior police officer has been charged with murder. Some female police officers have been cited crying their frustrations on social media while others have gone to the extent of killing themselves. Others have been arrested over robbery and extortion claims. Additionally, cases of police brutality and extra judicial killings have become common.
With elections around the corner, this can also spark of lawlessness in the country with a view that the country’s Police service is not as strong as it should be and appearing as a house divided within itself. It would be detrimental for it to portray an image of incompetence before the general public as what the country needs to see and feel right now are security agencies that are ready in terms of preparations to avert poll violence and not one whose issues within seem overwhelming among a section of them. Whether the problem lies with general indiscipline or matters to do with mental health, the police are a part of the disciplined forces and there are rules and standards of integrity that should be maintained as a critical arm of the national government.
Arguably, these are indicators of mental and emotional issues that if not addressed may set a bad precedence of lawlessness within the force. The issues should be dealt with fast and efficiently, for it is about service above self and a compromise to this will mean some of the security measures put in place may fail in operationalization and coordination. Again, dejected officers may be vulnerable to rogue politicians and criminal gangs who may use them as their bait to incite violence on their rival groups or communities.

By this the Kenya Police Service must ensure there is a surmountable confidence in them even as we approach the polls, creating public trust and confidence in the security apparatus put in place. The police must be seen to set the example of a Service of integrity and rule of law, which is capable and well resourced to ensure internal security throughout the country.