Why Raila wants police Deputy IG positions re-advertised

National Super Alliance Principal Raila Odinga has questioned the criteria by which President Uhuru Kenyatta used to sack and appoint officers at the National Police Service Commission.

This comes two weeks since the president reshuffled his Cabinet and the National Police Service Commission, where he appointed Edward Njoroge Mbugua (Ag. Deputy Inspector General, Kenya Police Service), Noor Yarao Gabao (Ag. Inspector General, Administration Police Service) and George Kinoti Maingi (Ag. Directorate of Criminal Investigations.)

In a press statement, Mr. Odinga alleges that the National Police Service Commission gave only a three-day notice to individuals willing to apply for the roles left vacant after Mr. Kenyatta’s reshuffle.

This, Mr. Odinga, says is not in accordance with the law as the National Police Service Commission is supposed to give the public a 14-day notice.

Odinga now wants the positions at the commission to be re-advertised saying; “From the start, there were signals to potential applicants that it would be an exercise in futility meant to rubber-stamp illegal appointments. The procedures were twisted from the start such that instead of the National Police Service sacking the former employees, it is Mr. Kenyatta who did.”

Odinga also reiterates that NASA will “object to the intentions of Jubilee to turn the police into a ragtag militia ready to be used by individual leaders against citizens.”

“It is our position that the Police is too critical an institution to be constituted and disbanded according to the whims of an individual. We demand that the National Police Service cancels the process of recruiting the deputy IGs and re-advertise the positions, spelling out the qualifications to be met. The applicants must be given the required 14 days minimum period within which to apply,” the statement adds.

The former Prime Minister also speaks on what he terms as “hiring and firing via radio and TV”, which he says must not be allowed back into public service.