A quiet storm is building inside Kenya’s police service, and at the center of it is Inspector General Douglas Kanja. The National Police Service Commission (NPSC) now claims they are being locked out of police payroll records, raising serious questions about transparency in the force.
Speaking before Parliament on Wednesday, NPSC CEO Peter Leley told MPs that the commission has been denied access to key documents needed to audit police hiring and salaries. The commission says it can’t confirm whether its staffing and recruitment decisions are actually being followed.
“We’ve made requests, but we’re still blocked from seeing the payroll. That makes it hard to know if the system is working fairly,” Leley said.
Leley added that this isn’t just a small misunderstanding. The poor relationship between the commission and police bosses has been going on for a while, even with new leadership now in place. He warned that without access to records, there’s no way to rule out the possibility of irregular hiring or bias in how officers are picked.
“If we can’t check what’s going on behind the scenes, then anything could be happening,” he told the committee.
This comes just days after IPOA also raised similar complaints about being blocked from investigating police misconduct.
The Inspector General has not publicly responded, but the pressure is mounting.
One of the fans reacted, “Why block an audit if you’ve got nothing to hide?”
Is there more going on in the police service than we’re being told? Should the payroll be opened up for full review? Drop your thoughts, like, and follow me for more stories affecting everyday Kenyans.
By Kenyans