The National Police Service is not willing to embrace the culture of transparency and accountability. This is according to a report that was released today by the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR). The monitoring was done on the 22nd April 2016 as the recruitment exercise was placed and during the exercise itself. The organization has been doing monitoring of the police recruitment since 2014. KNCHR deployed 120 monitors in 120 recruitment centres out of the 292 centres that were active across the country.
The report released was based on information that was analysed based on different parameters leading to the production of the various reports, responding to complaints, solving complaints and giving direction among others.
KNCHR however, stated that there were challenges faced in gaining access to recruitment centres despite its statutory mandate of providing oversight to national security organs.
During the recruitment exercise, several KNCHR observers were denied access and only got it long after the exercise had begun. The denial of access was seen by the organization as the lack of willingness to embrace the culture of transparency and accountability.
The advert that was placed during the Easter holiday limited the number of people allowed to see, prepare and apply for the position advertised and was seen to have infringed on the right to public participation.
Time keeping was also seen as a major challenge as most centres continued to operate even beyond the closing time of 5 and NYS was named to be among the most notorious.
Gender parity that continues to be a major challenge in our country is also seen in the recruitment as the percentage of females to the total ranged between 0.00% to 37.71%.
The senior assistant Inspector General Patrick Lumumba Adera defended the process saying, “The low number chosen for females was as a result of the need of the force as per now and most ladies cannot be dispatched in danger zone areas .”
KNCHR urged the police service to adhere to the challenges mentioned in the report as a way of streamlining the recruitment process.