Police officer earns instant promotion following public demand

Audio By Vocalize

Fortune smiled on a senior police officer in Taita Taveta County when he received an instant promotion following public demand.

In a rare show of thawing relations between the public and the police, residents of Bura location in Mwatate Sub County yesterday demanded the immediate promotion of Inspector Kipngok Amdany Pius to Chief Inspector.

The police officer has been acting as OCS at the newly established Bura Police Station before he was promoted yesterday by the Internal cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen and Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) Eliud Lagat.

The CS and DIG had visited the county to officially open the newly created Bura Police Station, where the public demanded that the police officer be promoted and confirmed immediately as the new station OCS.

The public told Murkomen and Lagat that the police officer has performed well in the fight against crime in the area hence the need to promote him to higher rank.

“The police officer has been outstanding in the fight against crime in the police station situated along the busy Mwatate-Taveta international highway and he should be rewarded for his good performance,” a resident told the CS and DIG.

Mr Murkomen told the public that he has heard their demands which have been implemented immediately.

“We have heard your demands and we have taken them seriously. We have now promoted the acting OCS who is a police Inspector to the rank of Chief Inspector of Police (CIP). The CIP is now the new Bura Police Station OCS,” Murkomen told the jubilant public.

“Due to public demand, we have promoted the police Inspector to the rank of CIP and confirmed him as the new OCS for Bura Police Station,” Lagat affirmed.

At the same time Murkomen announced that additional eight police officers will be deployed to the new police station. “Currently the new police station has seven police officers. We will deploy eight others to make the total number of police officers to be 15 in number,” the CS declared.

Additionally, Murkomen said the government will also further provide furniture to the police and two mattresses to be used by inmates in the police cell next week.

The opening of the new police station comes at a time when the government is still grappling limited resources and infrastructural challenges, lack of police officers among other problems like lack of police vehicles, furniture’s and police quarters.

The security facilities are congested, lack enough police officers and uniforms, proper infrastructure like offices, electricity, and water and also face logistical problems.

This, according to the police and local residents has demoralized police officers who some living in dilapidated houses which has badly affected their morale of work and the fight against crime in the border county.

Multiple interviews with police officers and residents noted the challenges had led to poor performance in controlling crime in the region.

At the same time, some community buildings have been converted into police stations. The Standard has reliably learnt that police have old uniforms and they are sharing vehicles.

And in some instances, residents in far-flung areas of the county have been forced to provide transport to ferry suspects to police stations, a situation that has promoted corruption.

The concerns about the welfare of police officers come as many questions abound as to why the government has established these new stations without considering the challenges facing police officers first.

Joyce Mwazoka, women leader in Mwatate Sub County claimed that residents have been contributing money to pay fares for the suspects and police officers ferrying them to police stations.

“We are still paying movement facilitating fee for the suspects from Rong’e Juu location to Mwatate Police Station which is about 40 kilometers away.

"We pay Sh1, 200 to and from for a suspect to Mwatate police station which is very expensive in the wake of skyrocketing food and fuel prices and the government should fully fund these mew police stations to make them functional for the benefit of the local community,” noted the women leader yesterday.

Senior police officers said like Voi Police station is sharing with Tausa police station, Rukanga PoLice Station with maungu police station and Taveta Police Station with Kitobo police station at the Kenya-Tanzania border.

The police officers said the other major challenge facing the station is the frequent breakdown of vehicles due to poor road terrain.

“Service providers take at least three months to repair the breakdown of vehicles like Ford Ranger and Nisan vehicles. Mahindra model have no power to traverse the bad terrain,” said the police officers yesterday.

They revealed that they have limited resources and spaces to serve the local community.

The police officers noted that at Wanganga police patrol base in Mbale location, Taita Sub County base  the building serving as offices lack electricity and water.

Junior police officer’s interviewed  urged the national police service to fast track the ongoing police reforms initiatives to address the current challenges.

“We are still using our old uniforms because the government has not supplied us with new ones,” noted one of the police officers who came from the defunct administration police service.