Over 180 police officers set for promotions after interviews

The National Police Service Commission (NPSC) on Thursday announced that it is set to promote 183 police officers from across the three police services.

The promotion will consider officers from the Kenya Police Service, the Administration Police Service and the Directorate of Criminal Investigations.

NPSC Chairperson Eliud Kinuthia said the officers who had completed a six-month promotional course will be assessed to certain their suitability for the expected mandate.

The officers who are at the rank of chief inspector will be promoted to the rank of assistant superintendent rank.

"The interviews for the officers will begin on Tuesday and will end on Friday," said Kinuthia.

The promotions are coming at a time when there is disquiet in the service after former acting Police IG, Gilbert Masengeli promoted several chief Inspectors to Assistant Superintendent of Police without subjecting them to interviews to determine their suitability to be promoted on merit.

Promotional course

The commission said the promotional course is holistic and focused on governance, managerial, academic qualifications, and communication skills.

Kinuthia who spoke during the ongoing interviews said the training on the said officers also considered leadership which is key in supporting the men and women in uniform while undertaking their duties.

The chair said this is part of the ongoing reforms in the sectors adding the promotion is very competitive and officers must excel in the interviews before securing the promotion.

According to the Commission, the six-month promotion course is to prepare those who have been serving in leadership roles.

"The course they have been undergoing is important for their professional lives because it equips them with managerial skills and is aimed at improving their performance every day," said Kinuthia.

The commission disclosed that other areas of interest in the ongoing interviews include communication skills, ethics and integrity, governance, management, supervision

"We will look at their academic qualifications and also gauge their performance in the six months in a way that centres around holistic preparedness for gazettement as police officers."