Editor's Review

NPSC officials termed 514 promotions announced by Koome as illegal and unconstitutional.

Officials of the Police Service Commission have faced the withdrawal of their security officers in what is believed to be a continuation of the supremacy battle over the promotion of senior police officers.

Last week NPSC trashed the appointments made by Police IG Japhet Kome terming them as illegal and unconstitutional.

National Police Service Commission chairman Eliud Kinuthia has confirmed that his 15 bodyguards have been withdrawn.

The officers were manning his Lamu home.

Kinuthia on Sunday said the suspension could be linked to the recent saga surrounding the promotion of senior cops.

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He said the withdrawal has not affected him but also his colleagues at the commission.

NPSC Chairman Eliud Kinuthia and CEO Peter Leley in a past event. PHOTO | COURTESY

“It is like when you are chasing an antelope then a squirrel appears. It will distract you. This is what is happening now to my colleagues and I. I won’t be distracted,” he said.

“I am at home. I can’t leave because they withdrew my security."

The commission's  CEO Peter Leley has also been affected by the withdrawal with a team of officers manning her Nairobi home reportedly withdrawn.

Koome who is a member of the NPSC recently announced the promotion of 514 senior cops, a move that was opposed by Kinuthia and his allied officials.

NPSC is said to have been split in the middle; one side has commissioners Alice Otwala, Lilian Kiamba, Leley and Kinuthia while Koome has his deputies Noor Gabow, Douglas Kanja, Edwin Cheluget, John Ole Moyaki and Eusabius Laibuta and DCI boss Mohamed Amin.

The disagreement escalated after NPSC advertised the positions Koome had filled but the police IG wanted his officers from applying.

In an internal memo, Koome warned of dire consequences for those who will defy his directive.

“I, therefore, direct that all officers under your command should be informed to ignore the advertisement and that any officer who fails to heed the directive may face disciplinary sanctions,” Koome said in an internal memo to all police commanders.