Should the Qualifications for Administration Police Change?

For the past few months, the Kenyan administration police otherwise known as the AP have been making news headlines all for the wrong reasons.

First, it was how they handled demonstrators during the CORD protests against the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC). During the protests, the police were blamed for using excessive force to disburse the demonstrators. At least five people died with hundreds others left nursing injuries during the whole process.

What is now dominating the mind of many Kenyans at the moment is the abducting and later brutal murder of lawyer Willie Kimani, his client and the taxi driver who was ferrying them. It is said that the three were abducted, detained at Syokimau AP camp before they disappeared and their bodies found at Ole Sabuk River. The people who are said to be behind the abduction and the brutal murder of the three individuals are three police officers from Syokimau AP camp. Yesterday, a corporal at the coast was arrested for kidnapping as well as drug trafficking.

Most Kenyans have now lost their faith in the police force especially at the rate at which they are taking away lives. Kenyans are now calling for the review of the qualifications for one to join the ‘disciplined’ force. Currently, those who have attained a form four education level with a mediocre grade as low as a D+. Most people are now calling on the review of the same so that the grade can be moved up to at least a C- with most arguing that education also has an impact on how one handles people.

Read: Next Time You Get Stopped by the Traffic Police

When the police force becomes rogue and lose the face from the public the way it is at the moment, the economy is what suffers the most. Criminal activities are going to surge beyond manageable levels and jungle law will take over the natural law. Something is wrong with the police force in Kenya and something has to be done with immediate effect. At the moment, Kenyans are torn between trusting a policeman who has more bullets to spend and a thief on the streets who is after the neck and their money.