NPSC, police chiefs tussle play out in Parliament

The power wars between the National Police Service Commission (NPSC) and National Police Service (NPS) played out in Parliament with the commission disclosing it was denied access to payroll during audit process.

Constitutionally, NPSC plays the human resource function for the National Police Service.

Appearing before the National Assembly’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on Wednesday, NPSC chief executive officer Peter Lelei demanded that Parliament summons IG Douglas Kanja to explain why the Service does not want to release police payroll for audit.

According to Lelei, their attempts to have the payroll have been in vain confirming the escalation of the poor working relationship between the two agencies.

“We had difficulty accessing the payroll for audit to determine the implementation status of the NPSC policies and resolutions,” Lelei said.

The plea however backfired with MPs accusing the commission of sleeping on the job.

The oversight committee chaired by Butere MP Tindi Mwale wondered why the commission is ‘crying’ when the law mandates it custodianship of the police payroll.

Article 246 (3) of the constitution grants NPSC the sole mandate to recruit and appoint persons to hold or act in offices in the service, confirm appointments, and determine promotions and transfers within the NPS.

The commission was appearing before the committee which is examining the 2022-23 Auditor General’s report.

Lelei noted that the payroll audit could not be carried out because the commission could not gain access of the payroll.

“This Parliament has assisted us before and we are ready to come here together to be cross examined together. We urge Parliament to enable us to take over the human resource function of NPS,” Lelei said.

According to the audit report, auditors were unable to determine implementation of policies because of the inaccessible payroll.

PAC members Wilberforce Oundo (Funyula), Maryanne Kitany (Aldai) and Nabii Nabwera (Lugari) however accused NPSC of sleeping on the job.

“You are being indolent because the constitution gives the control over the NPS payroll. Go and work,” Oundo said.

“The law gives the commission explicit functions in detail. You should be telling us that you have started an audit and not seeking our help over the NPS,” added Kitany.

Nabwera wondered how the police payroll ended up with the NPS when the law was clear on the custodian of the payroll.

INSTANT ANALYSIS

The National Police Service Commission in Kenya has a broad mandate focused on the human resource management of the National Police Service. This includes recruitment, appointment, confirmation, promotion and disciplinary control of NPS officers. The NPSC also develops policies, provides oversight on training, and reviews conditions of service for NPS staff.