The National Police Service has excluded degree holders from its latest recruitment drive that starts tomorrow and where it targets to hire 5,000 new constables.
The National Police Service Commission (NPSC) said it had learnt from past mistakes where enlisting university graduates landed them in a pay dispute.
During a pre-recruitment sensitisation session in Kabarnet on Monday, NPSC official John ole Moyaki said the latest hiring drive targets non-degree holders.
“In the adverts placed in various media platforms, we have indicated that we are recruiting police constables with a minimum qualification of D+ in their Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education [KCSE] exam and it remains as such because there is a particular job group for the advertised positions. We are advising those with degrees to wait for other positions to avoid labour issues,” said commissioner Moyaki.
“We are not discouraging graduates from joining the police service, but there are better opportunities and higher job groups that would suit them, apart from the police. It would be ideal for potential recruits to adhere to the requirements set out in our advertisement,” he stated.
Last year, more than 1,000 graduate police officers protested against a move to slash their salaries. The graduate recruits, ranked police inspectors under job Group J, were shocked to receive Group F salaries, which are paid to police constables.
The officers said their November payslips indicated about Sh30,000 had been sliced from their pay. They argued that the directive by Inspector-General (IG)of Police Hillary Mutyambai that their salaries be slashed had left them earning negative salaries.
In a November 17, 2021 letter, the IG had directed that the changes be effected on the graduate constables’ salaries. Mr Mutyambai said the Court of Appeal had overturned a decision of the High Court that gave the officers a reprieve. He further stated that the move ensured fairness in the police service.
The salary cuts affected officers in all formations, including the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI). Police Spokesperson Bruno Shioso said the pay cut was informed by the Court of Appeal ruling No. 352 of 2019, which was delivered on September 23.
Mr Shioso explained that the NPS had been attempting to implement a March 7, 2018 directive by then NPSC Chairman Johnston Kavuludi that sought to “clean up” the payroll. Mr Kavuludi had noted that some officers had been added to the payroll without the approval of the commission.
The affected officers moved to the Employment and Labour Relations Court in Nairobi to challenge Mr Kavuludi’s directive. They obtained a consent order blocking the implementation of the order on November 14, 2018.
Meanwhile, Mr Ole Moyaki has urged the public to desist from giving out bribes to get the jobs, saying, it the exercise be free and fair. He further asked the public to give feedback on past police recruitment drives.
“The recruits are not allowed to give out any money to the officers carrying out the exercise. Stern action will be taken against those found doing so,” he said.
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