Most Useless People in -#2 The Kenya Police.

In recent times the British went riot, basically some black people wore hoods, covered their faces and set things ablaze. Naturally the British police showed up and played cat and mouse with them, isn’t that what they are paid to do? By Kenyan standards, the British police did everything wrong, If it had been in Kenya, the police would be looting, they would shoot at women and Children and they would rape as well. At the end of the day Kiraithe would show up and commend his boys for a job well done. This may sound maliciously exaggerated but unfortunately that is how the Kenyan police has dealt with public disorder.

I think that the Kenyan police are a terribly under supported team, they lack even the most basic policing utilities, many officers endure very long and difficult working hours and I owe it to them to be sympathetic

So, what is wrong with the Kenyan Police? The problems are not as obvious as some would imagine. Unfortuantely kenyans tend to oversimplify issues. Everybody says they are paid loose change and if we paid them better they would not “Fundraise in the streets”. Unfortunately, it’s a bit more complicated than that.

The problem with the Kenya police starts with the enrollment process. Apparently, the Kenya police is reserved fore the intellectually challenged, people with minimal literacy and limited intelligence. The Kenya police emphasizes that you perfect teeth,as if you are expected to bite like a dog. They also insist that you have a big chest and be without scars as if you are they are a modeling agency. Who runs the Police Human resources department? Other than teeth and skin the Kenya police also expects its candidates to be able to run for long distances so that they can be able to flee effectively from rioting university students. With such a narrow minded recruitment policy the Kenya police tends  accumulate air heads with big teeth and chests to intimidate.

Then the second problem is the training of kenyan Policemen. The Kenya police train at a college called kiganjo, kiganjo is basically a colonial facility with dirty toilets and overcrowded dorms where police are trained. As a facility Kiganjo lacks dignity and it is innapropriate for training officers, but I DON’T BLAME THE POLICE FOR THAT, I REST THE BLAME ON THE CENTRAL GOVERNMENT.

The police training curriculum until recently was only six months long and most of it was about training people to match, wear boots, shoot at civilians and harrass the youth.

 Then there is the popular remedy, police salaries. I admit that the Kenyan police and Prisons service are paid a pittance and they even lack an insurance policy. It is undeniable that the Kenyan police work in the least appealing working conditions in this country. Raising their salaries would be only human but at the risk of sounding inhuman I reckon we should not raise their salaries, the reason is simple, we have the wrong people in the police force, our police force is irrecoverably contaminated,  a policeman wouldn’t stop collecting bribes just because they earn more, would they?

This I must agree is a terribly exagerated indictment, This is mostly for the entertainment value but as a Kenyan I do feel for the Kenyan police and I do respect the Kenyan Police institution, despite its shortcomings. I think that the Kenyan police are a terribly undersupported team, they lack even the most basic policing utilities, many officers endure very long and difficult working hours and I owe it to them to be sympathetic. The contents of this article do not necesarilly reflect my views of the Kenyan Police.