A storm is brewing within the police service over changes announced by President Uhuru Kenyatta last month.
On Wednesday, Director of Criminal Investigations George Kinoti held a crisis meeting in Nairobi with top DCI commanders.
They expressed concern over various issues, among them their demotion and the proposed reporting structure, which will require them to answer to a regional police commander.
In the changes the AP, under Deputy Inspector General Noor Gabow, will focus on Protective and Border Security and combating cattle rusting and banditry.
The Regular Police, under the command of DIG Edward Mbugua, will focus on public safety and security. The DCI has been tasked with criminal investigations.
The officers asked Kinoti to seek audience with Uhuru.
In the past, DCI chiefs in regions, counties and even police stations, have been independent and only answered to their DCI bosses.
Under the new structure, they will report to the head of police in the area of command. This means at the county level, the DCI chief will answer to the police commander, who is not from the DCI.
The 12-hour meeting was attended by officers of the ranks of Assistant Inspector General and above. AIGs are regional commanders and Directors of DCI formations such as the training school and the ATPU.
Kinoti did not comment on the discussions. But multiple sources familiar with the proceedings said the officers protested the new ranking system, which will see all DCI commanders fall a rank lower from their uniform counterparts.
This means a regional police commander in Nairobi, for instance, will be the rank of AIG, while the DCI chief, serving in the same area, will be a rank lower — a commissioner of police. “The boss [DCI)] has ruled that at the moment we should work without any competition as he seeks audience with higher authorities,” a senior officer said.