The National Police Service (NPS) has defended earlier remarks made by police spokesperson Charles Owino on Citizen TV.
Owino explained to Day Break presenter Trevor Ombija that the service prefers to recruit officers who scored D plus grades because they serve in their positions for longer periods.
Those who scored C plus and above grades, he explained, often advance their education and seek managerial roles.
“We have a challenge when we employ every policeman with grade C+ and above…they go back to school, they get their degrees, they come back and tell you ‘now we don’t want to serve at this level.’ For every 9 police officers, we may only have one corporal and one inspector…so you cannot promote everyone to those levels,” he told Trevor.
Read: Police Spokesperson Charles Owino Explains Challenge In Recruiting Officers With C Plus Grades
He added, “We get officers at direct entry inspectorate, then let’s also get officers who have C plain, C-, D+…people who will work at those levels for a longer period of time, they’ll become corporals, sergeants…because we need all these levels.”
Owino further explained that intelligence is key in the recruitment of men in uniform because “it’s not your education that will do your work, you must be practical, and you must earn your promotions fairly”.
NPS explained that while it is impractical to employ officers who scored C plus and above, they have hired 300 graduates for management entry-level and 4700 with a minimum requirement of grade D+ during this year’s recruitment exercise.
“We have seen negative reactions on the same and it is important that you accurately listen to the debate on the issue of grade. It is true that you can not employ every policeman with C+ and above…This is the truth and you cannot run away from it,” NPS wrote on social media.
2/2…employed 4700 with minimum requirement of grade D+ and we are equally employing 300 graduates for management entry level .This is the truth and you cannot run away from it
— National Police Service-Kenya (@NPSOfficial_KE) March 17, 2021
Last week, Interior CS Fred Matiang’i argued that the qualification for recruitment into the service should be raised because police graduates are not qualified to solve complex crimes.
“We have a challenge when we employ every policeman with Grade C+ and above. They go back to school, get degrees & come back and ask for promotions. It is important we get officers who have C plain, C -, and D+,” he said.
“This is why I have been fighting that we look at the cut-off point of the people we are admitting. Surely, if we are admitting you with a D plus then we are telling you to go to the complex science of analysing blood and preparing a document that the DPP is going to use in court to prove murder, are we serious honestly? Are we serious?”
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