{"id":115676,"date":"2025-05-27T15:03:21","date_gmt":"2025-05-27T15:03:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/index.php\/2025\/05\/27\/mps-defend-manual-police-selection-as-nps-roots-for-digital-listing\/"},"modified":"2025-05-27T15:03:21","modified_gmt":"2025-05-27T15:03:21","slug":"mps-defend-manual-police-selection-as-nps-roots-for-digital-listing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/mps-defend-manual-police-selection-as-nps-roots-for-digital-listing\/","title":{"rendered":"MPs defend manual police selection as NPS roots for digital listing"},"content":{"rendered":"

NAIROBI, Kenya, May 27 \u2014 A section of Members of Parliament have opposed the planned digital recruitment of police officers, warning that the move risks excluding thousands of qualified but disadvantaged youth, especially from marginalized regions.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Members of the National Assembly Committee on Administration and Internal Security raised serious concerns about the exclusionary nature of the online recruitment model and called for a more inclusive approach that reflects Kenya\u2019s social and technological disparities.<\/p>\n

The National Police Service (NPS) and the National Police Service Commission (NPSC) had earlier revealed that the service has lost 4,569 officers since the last recruitment in 2022\u2014 including over 1,200 deaths, 326 resignations, and nearly 2,600 retirements.<\/p>\n

Inspector General of Police Douglas Kanja warned that staffing shortages are already affecting security operations across the country ahead of the 2027 general election.<\/p>\n

Despite needing Sh6.3 billion to recruit and train 10,000 officers, Parliamnet has only allocated the service Sh2.9 billion. NPS has scheduled recruitment for June, with training expected to commence in July.<\/p>\n

Committee Vice Chair Diddo Rasso (Saku) denounced the proposal as premature and unsuitable given Kenya\u2019s current level of development, saying it would lock out individuals from arid and semi-arid regions.<\/p>\n

Marginalized <\/h2>\n

The Saku lawmaker argued that the digital model would further divide the country along technological and economic lines, warning that many communities still lack basic internet access.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t need to go in circles; we just need to address the issue of corruption. How can we promote prudence in our forces? As a people\u2019s representative and patron of the Pastoralist Parliamentary Group, I will not support this\u2014maybe in the future when Kenya is industrialized. What jurisdiction have you borrowed this model from?\u201d Rasso posed.<\/p>\n

Sotik MP Francis Sigei emphasized that the recruitment process is too sensitive warning NPS against handling it \u201ccasually or blindly\u201d through digital platforms, especially given the high level of unemployment.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a serious, critical, emotional, and sensitive process. Unemployment is very high, and most applicants don\u2019t just want the job\u2014they need<\/em> it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s easy to come here and lecture us on what needs to be done. But when you factor in population and poverty indices, we must be practical and extremely cautious. Recruitment is next month. We can\u2019t afford mistakes,\u201d Sigei added.<\/p>\n

Loima MP Protus Akujah also raised concerns, arguing that communities along Kenya\u2019s borders continue to suffer from insecurity and that digital recruitment would only deepen their isolation.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe aren\u2019t even feeling the impact of police in those areas,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

\u201cNow you want us to go digital in areas without internet? Others will end up applying on behalf of the local youth. How will you address that?\u201d Akujah posed.<\/p>\n

The lawmakers also questioned whether NPS had in place sufficient public awareness and grievance mechanisms to support the new system, citing the need for a complaints desk to monitor fairness and accessibility during the recruitment exercise.<\/p>\n

Curbing corruption<\/h2>\n

In defense of the digital model, Inspector General Kanja said the shift is a necessary step to curb corruption, which has long plagued police recruitment.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have made it clear that we will not allow corruption in the National Police Service. That\u2019s why we have involved the EACC and DCI in this process,\u201d Kanja told the committee.<\/p>\n

\u201cI joined the service with only Sh30 in my pocket. That was my fare. No bribes. That\u2019s the kind of system we are trying to bring back.\u201d<\/p>\n

NPSC CEO Peter Lelei echoed the Inspector-General\u2019s sentiments, calling the police recruitment process a \u201cnational shame\u201d riddled with bribery and favoritism.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople are required to pay huge sums just to get in. If we don\u2019t confront this now, the status quo will remain. This digital system is our boldest chance to clean it up,\u201d Lelei stated.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NAIROBI, Kenya, May 27 \u2014 A section of Members of Parliament have opposed the planned digital recruitment of police officers, warning that the move risks excluding thousands of qualified but disadvantaged youth, especially from marginalized regions. Members of the National Assembly Committee on Administration and Internal Security raised serious concerns about the exclusionary nature of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-115676","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","entry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115676","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=115676"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115676\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=115676"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=115676"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=115676"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}