Anxiety has gripped the National Police Service Commission (NPSC) after intelligence reports unearthed fresh threats targeting its chairman, Johnston Kavuludi.
The People Daily can authoritatively report that security was beefed up around the commission headquarters in Nairobi last week, after it emerged that some people were planning to deliver a human head. The plan was nipped in the bud.
According to sources, the threats are calculated to force the commission to soften its stance in the ongoing vetting of police officers, an exercise that has revealed glaring corruption and other ills perpetrated by rogue officers.
Contacted yesterday, Kavuludi said he was aware of the threats, but observed that “police are pursuing the matter.”
In August 2013, a human head packed in a box was placed outside NPSC offices in Westlands with writings; “Kavuludi you’re next”. The box was put on a flowerbed, outside Luther Plaza.
The commission vetted 328 police officers in Nakuru in an exercise that lasted for 10 days, bringing the total number of officers grilled to 920.
In another incident, anonymous police officers wrote a letter to President Uhuru Kenyatta, asking for his intervention “before matters get out of hand”, claiming they were being unfairly targeted by the commission.
Unhappy officers
The author(s) threatened to “put a bullet into the head of the commissioners” if they don’t stop sacking their colleagues. Officers unhappy with the commission are also considering other options such as introducing a petition to remove Kavuludi through a legal process.
During the onset of the ongoing vetting in Nakuru two weeks ago, Kavuludi told journalists that threats would not stop him from doing his work.
“We all face challenges daily in our lives. A farmer cannot stop tilling his farm just because he saw a snake,” he said at the office of Rift Valley Regional Commissioner Wanyama Musiambo’s office.
We have also learnt that the supremacy battle pitting the commission and the office of the Inspector General of Police is far from over.
The rivalry played out a few weeks ago after the Inspector General of Police Joseph Boinnet and Kavuludi released—separately—different lists of officers to be promoted.
Kavuludi has since played down the matter, terming it “miscommunication”, but this could be an indicator of brewing tension.
The tug of war is said to be slowing down the commission’s activities such as promotion of officers between the ranks of constables and inspectors and, most importantly, the passing of officers’ scheme of service.
Kenyan’s have been treated to shocking revelations on corruption in the service in the last few weeks as officers face Kavuludi-led vetting panel.
Financial integrity of individual officers has been brought to question as it emerged unexplained millions of shillings change hands between junior officers and their bosses daily.
For example, one traffic officer was found to have transacted more than Sh10 million through M-Pesa between 2012 and 2013, while another officer had properties valued at more than Sh100 million.
It also emerged that traffic officers were using mobile money transfer agents to cover their tracks, something that Kavuludi said amounted to economic sabotage, an offence punishable by law.
“From our analysis, between 2012 and 2013 you were receiving an average of Sh5, 300 on a daily basis from people who deposit money to you phone through specific MPesa agents,” Panelist Kipkoech Ng’etich told the Eldoret-based traffic officer.
Hard-pressed to explain why thousands of shillings were changing hands between individual police officers daily, most officers said they had “embraced merry-go-round concept” to alleviate the hard economic times.
But, the vetting panel dismissed the explanation, saying majority of officers cannot explain their fat bank accounts, or why the merry-go-rounds amounts differed daily.
“From what you’re telling us, it is clear to us that your business is fictitious because we’re seeing a lot of gaps in it,” Kavuludi retorted after one officer failed to explain how he acquired parcels of land in Thika, Kasarani and Mwiki in Nairobi.
From these vetting sessions, it appears the commission has stepped on the toes of powerful cartels in the service, with chances high they will fight back.
Subsequently, Kavuludi’s personal security has reportedly been beefed up following the latest threat.
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