Police recruits perform marching drills during a past Kenya police pass out parade at Kiganjo Police Training College in Nyeri County.
She has served in the police service for 29 years without a promotion. Recruited in 1995 as a constable, the entry-level into the police, the policewoman has stagnated in the position.
Over the years, the officer has witnessed colleagues being promoted. As is routine, once promotions are approved by the police chief, the communication filters to the station where the beneficiaries are stationed to inform them of the good news and to require them to wear the appropriate badges that reflect the new ranks.
For this policewoman, she has waited and hoped that someday she, too, would be recognised for her diligent work and promoted. It has been 29 years.
On Tuesday, the police officer (name withheld for fear of victimisation) reached out to Nation, dejected after reading an expose of how the latest promotions have been dished out to relatives, mistresses and friends of senior police officers.
She wondered, without a godfather, whether she will ever scale the ladder within the police service.
Yet another policeman has been serving in the police service as a constable for 29 years.
He was enlisted in the service in 1995 at the age of 18.
In the next 13 years, if things don’t change, the man will retire after serving the country for 42 years as a police constable.
But for the lucky ones, the beneficiaries of the latest promotions by merit, the rise has been easy and swift, some even bypassing a step to a higher rank to the extent of outranking their immediate seniors.
One such lucky officer, the head of security for a top official in President William Ruto’s government, has been promoted to the rank of Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP).
Three months ago, the police officer (name withheld for legal reasons) had been promoted again to Superintendent of Police.
At the time of appointment as the head of security for the VIP, the officer held the rank of Chief Inspector of Police.
The man who has been in police service for about 25 years has risen through the ranks although he has never attended any promotion course throughout his career.
For an officer to be considered for promotion to the rank of Superintendent of Police, the police service promotion guidelines require that he or she must sit examination and attend a six months mandatory training popularly known as Higher training course (HTC).
This is a mandatory training for all police officers before they are confirmed to the rank of Superintendent.
The officer was spared the rigors of attending this mandatory training.
In 2012, the officer was a police corporal in one of the elite Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) units in Nairobi.
While serving in the elite unit, he was again promoted through merit to the rank of Sergeant.
In 2016, while still serving in the DCI, the officer was again promoted to the rank of Inspector of Police. This promotion was based on merit.
Throughout his career, the police officer has been among the lucky few to have risen through the ranks through merit promotion.
In Kiambu county, another officer in the Administration Police service has been promoted from constable to corporal after nine years.
She was enlisted in the police service in 2015 but the good news filtered to her station in Kiambu last week.
Only nine years after joining the police service, she has now been promoted to the rank of corporal on merit. This means she does not need to undergo any promotion course at the police college. She will also not be subjected to the mandatory police examinations.
Had the promotion guidelines applied to her, she would have been required to first sit six examinations at the Kenya Police Training College in Kiganjo to get to her current rank. This has been the case for officers in the National Police Service.
But the announcement by the acting Inspector General of Police Gilbert Masengeli on the promotions on merit benefiting over 200 officers has spared her this training. She will not be required to sit the examinations.
There has been uproar in the rank and file of the police after a list of the officers who had been awarded merit promotions emerged on Tuesday.
Relatives, friends and mistresses of senior police officers are among individuals who have benefited from the promotions announced by the acting police boss.
Well-connected police officers, some of whom are yet to attain the necessary requirements, have also been promoted in a process that has sparked claims of favoritism and nepotism.
Multiple officers who spoke to the Nation on these promotions said some senior police officers who were tasked with the responsibility of picking officers for promotion had taken advantage of the situation and forwarded names of their relatives.
In one instance, at one of the police units, the daughter of a senior police chief and his driver are among those whose names were forwarded for consideration for the promotions.
The daughter of the senior officer is only two years in service.
“We have some old officers, some who have been in the low ranks for over 20 years. Why the daughter who is still very new in the service?” posed an officer.
Mr Masengeli and National Police Service Commission chair Eliud Kinuthia did not respond on Monday to queries by the Nation on these promotions.
In text messages, the Nation had sought to know from Mr Masengeli how the list of officers to be promoted had been arrived at and what was the special consideration for those that had benefited.
Separately, the Nation asked Mr Kinuthia if the commission was involved in the promotions and if the acting IG had the powers to effect the promotions.
On Tuesday, Nation contacted Mr Kinuthia again for a comment on these promotions. He did not respond to multiple calls.
The National Police Service Commission on May 22, 2015, developed guidelines to be followed in police promotions.
Under the legal notice No 88, then NPSC chair Johnstone Kavuludi and his team passed the guidelines stating the commission shall determine all police promotions.
These guidelines are available on the commission website which is publicly accessible.
For a police officer to qualify for promotion through merit, he or she is required to meet certain qualifications.
The issues to be considered include aptitude, skills, knowledge, experience and personal qualities relevant to the carrying out of the duties in question.
The guidelines state that the officer should have performed satisfactorily in the previous post besides acquiring the relevant education qualifications.
The officer should also not be tainted with corruption.
In the event of promotion of officers below the rank of Superintendent of Police, the Act states that the commission can delegate this function to the IG.
The commission will be required to write to the IG, giving him powers to do the promotions on behalf of the commission.
“Where promotions are delegated to the Inspector-General, the — promotions may be commenced after a written notification of the commencement of the process to the Commission,” the guidelines state.
The last time the police service had an acting IG was on August 26,2022, when then Deputy Inspector Genral in charge of Administration Police Noor Gabow was appointed the acting IG.
Mr Gabow who has since been redeployed to the public service did not conduct any promotions as acting IG.
