Our hands are tied, NPSC tells court it can only act against Lagat after getting nod from Kanja
Langat resumed duty last week and in his response to Matindi's suit, the DIG made a U-turn and said he only took an administrative leave
The National Police Service Commission (NPSC) says it could not suspend or take any disciplinary action against Deputy Inspector General of Police Eliud Langat without the recommendation of the same by Inspector General Douglas Kanja.
Responding in a suit by activist Eliud Matindi, who has sued the commission for failure to remove Langat from office after he “deserted” the Kenya Police Service (KPS), NPSC Chief Executive Officer Stephen Kiptanui Leley says it must wait for the outcome of the ongoing investigations to make a decision on whether to take any action.
Langat revealed he had stepped aside during the investigations into the murder of Homa Bay teacher Albert Ojwang and Matindi sued NPSC for failure to remove him from office.
Matindi argues that the National Police Service Act does not have any provisions for stepping aside and what Langat had done amounted to deserting duty which according to Matindi, required the NPSC to start the process of replacing Langat immediately.
But Leley said that his commission is bound by the law to allow the entities with authority in law to investigate the fact of Ojwang’s death to conclude their investigations and issue their report to enable the commission make an informed decision regarding any of the member s of the service that shall be named in the report for appropriate disciplinary action
The CEO told the High Court that the commission could not initiate the removal or any disciplinary action until it receives the recommendations following investigations, which are still incomplete.
Although he acknowledged that NPSC is aware of ongoing investigations into the death of Ojwang, as it appeared to respond to queries in Parliament over the death, Leley said the commission cannot undertake any disciplinary action until such investigations are concluded.
“Whereas section 10(1) (g) of the NPSC Act state that the commission shall not undertake criminal investigations, the commission shall exercise its disciplinary role with regard to all officers in the investigation report as reported to the commission by the IG in section 10 (4) (f) of Cap 85 or by any other legal authority such as Internal Affair Unit (IAU) and policing authorities mandated to check police excesses,” stated Leley.
“There is no basis therefore to the claim that the (NPSC) should have initiated disciplinary action or control under the NPS Act in light of the Eight Schedule to Cap 84 and under sections 88 and 89 of the NPSC Act, Cap 85.”
In an affidavit of reply, the CEO said Section 88 and 89 of the NPSC Act provides for disciplinary offences for which members of the NPS may be charged with and procedures of the disciplinary proceedings variously set out in the NPS Service Standing Orders (SSO) as well as NPSC discipline regulations.
Ojwang was murdered on the night of June 7-8 while in custody at the Central Police Station in Nairobi after he was arrested by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) officers following a complaint of cyberbullying by Langat.
Police officers are said to have instructed three inmates who were in cells to discipline Ojwang but he died in the process and the station’s commander Samson Talaam was charged alongside his two juniors and the three prisoners who allegedly tortured Ojwang to death.
Langat resumed duty last week and in his response to Matindi’s suit, the DIG made a U-turn and said he only took an administrative leave denying his own letter to IG where he indicated of stepping aside owing to public pressure for the same, to allow independent investigations.
