NEWS > 17 December 2005

Article sourced from

Standard - Nairobi, Kenya
17 December 2005

This article appeared in the above title/site.
To view it in its entirity click this link.

Resign, ODM tells Ali as recru

As the recruitment of new police officers was nullified and the recruiters dismissed, the Police Commissioner was asked to resign over the scandal.

Maj Gen Hussein Ali said yesterday he could not ratify the recruitment of officers whose conduct has been questioned.

And speaking to The Standard yesterday evening, Government Spokesman Alfred Mutua said the Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission blew the whistle on the scandal at the instigation of the Government.

"The Government initiated the investigation into the recruitment following complaints by concerned citizens," said Mutua, adding: "We will continue to do the same across different sectors of our society to ensure that we root out this bad old habit."

Mutua said the Government encourages wananchi to report any incident of corruption no matter how small for action.

"This Government is determined to root out corruption and we cannot do it without the help of citizens."

In one devastating blow, Ali crashed the hopes of 3,000 recruits who had been selected in the corruption-riddled exercise and put on the balance the careers of 66 senior officers who were in charge of the process.

"I have today cancelled the results of the recruitment and with immediate effect interdicted all officers involved," he said.

But in a swift response, the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) demanded the resignation or sacking of Ali over the scandal.

Speaking at Parliament Buildings, ODM said it was not enough for Ali to nullify the exercise saying he should take responsibility and quit.

The movement�s spokesperson and Kanu Secretary General William Ruto said the high level of corruption alarmed ODM during the exercise.

He said rich candidates who could bribe their way by paying the recruiting officers and their seniors between Sh40, 000 and Sh60, 000 filled the vacancies.

Ruto said the majority of applicants who are poor and do not have rich sponsors or senior relatives don�t have a chance of being recruited.

"The poor who have merit will forever be down-trodden and the rich without merit will forever occupy positions of privilege," Ruto said.

He said the system of selection in any recruitment must be transparent and above board � devoid of bribery, tribalism and nepotism.

The police boss had said he had interdicted the officers pending the result of investigation into their personal conduct during the exercise.

Ali seemed to have bowed to pressure from the Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission to nullify the just-concluded exercise.

He commended Kacc for exposing the scam and promised to take a stern action on any officer who will be indicted in it.

"It takes a friend to tell you where home is. So the commission did a good job and as the primary enforcer of the law I cannot condone illegality."

He said the seriousness of the criminal acts reported by Kacc cast doubt on the validity of the recruitment and subverts the trust and confidence of the public and alienate.

"The issue is not about the number of instances reported, for I will not tolerate even one incident. There can be no substitute to upholding ethical standards," he said.

Ali spoke from his office after he sent a team of officers to Kacc headquarters, Integrity House, to view an alleged video clip that captured the officers receiving bribes.

He said he would make public the result of the investigation in a month�s time, adding that officers who did their duties well had nothing to fear.

The officer said such corruption incidences would not affect his commitment to reforming the force.

But Ruto said Ali was contradicting himself and that this meant the Police Commissioner had no idea what goes on in the "most corrupt" institution he heads.

Ruto said it is impossible to expect police to fight corruption when their own recruitment is riddled with the same vice.

He said for Kenya to return to normalcy, the country needs a police commissioner who is a professional policeman and not a soldier.

LDP chairman David Musila said there should be a repeat exercise that is transparent and conducted by another body.

Narok North MP William Ntimama ole Ntimama said parents and recruits should be refunded by the government the money they had used to bribe.

Also present was LDP Secretary General Joseph Kamotho and Legal Affairs Secretary Otieno Kajwang�.

Ruto also said they would never forget or forgive the merciless gunning down of unarmed and harmless civilians in Mai Mahiu where a helicopter gunship was used.

Ali yesterday urged those who may have been victims of the corruption in the exercise to report to him or do it in writing.

Kacc Director Justice Aaron Ringera said on Thursday that massive fraud in the recruitment has compromised recruits ironically expected to graduate to the vanguard of fighting corruption and enforcing public service integrity.

Kacc says the magnitude of open bribery, some of which its officers recorded on video, made the exercise untenable.

"From the Commission�s own observations in those centres, the exercise was riddled with outright bribery, canvassing and influence peddling.

In the Commission�s opinion, 80 per cent of the recruitment was thus tainted," he said.

Ali had said he would not comment on the allegations without evidence. But yesterday, he said even with the absence of evidence, the perception that conduct of the exercise was not above board is sufficient to nullify it.

He said where crimes have been committed the police cannot resort to denial as that would be tantamount to a cover-up.

Ali said he would announce the new recruitment dates later saying no cost is too high for justice regardless of how big or small the crime is.

Ali said they might even be forced to charge those who bribed when evidence is availed.

There are 2,000 vacancies annually in a force reputed as a bastion of corruption and that has consistently scored among the top three in the Transparency International annual Corruption Index.

Some of the unsuccessful applicants have since lodged formal complaints with the Office of the President but owing to the clandestine nature of bribes-for-admission deals, many more are likely to have opted to suffer in silence.

Ringera said reports on the exercise from the rest of the country have similarly painted a grim picture of police officers blatantly disregarding recruitment guidelines.

The damning report blows the whistle on a malpractice that is believed to have grown over the years even as the government downplayed repeated complaints by MPs and other critics.

Ringera conceded that annulling the entire exercise would be "painful" to genuinely qualified recruits and costly while also resulting in delays in replenishing officers lost to natural attrition.

But he argued the drastic action is inevitable, as fraudulently hired officers cannot be trusted to resist corruption and lead in the upholding work ethics.

"It is against public interest of a nation that aspires to zero tolerance on corruption and integrity in public service to uphold the results of such a contaminated exercise.

Kenyans cannot expect officers recruited in such a manner to uphold any ethics and integrity in their future careers."

Meanwhile, a woman who has been masquerading as a secretary to Brig Ali and obtaining money to enable potential recruits joins the force was arrested yesterday.

EiP Comments:

* We have no wish to infringe the copyright of any newspaper or periodical. If you feel that we have done so then please contact us with the details and we will remove the article. The articles republished on this site are provided for the purposes of research , private study, criticism , review, and the reporting of current events' We have no wish to infringe the copyright of any newspaper , periodical or other works. If you feel that we have done so then please contact us with the details and where necessary we will remove the work concerned.

Other related articles:

Article sourced from

Standard - Nairobi, Kenya17 December 2005

Resign, ODM tells Ali as recru

EiP Comments:

Standard - Nairobi, Kenya
17 December 2005