KENYA: Since independence in 1963, each succeeding President of the Republic of Kenya has had to sanction any appointment to the office of the Director of the Criminal Investigation Department due to the sensitive nature of its work.
Security personnel sent to quell tribal clashes in Tana River last year take position
That notwithstanding, the CID has been directly answerable to the Commissioner of Police (now Inspector General of Police) operationally and administratively.
It was my special privilege to work as the Director of the CID for four years under the administration of President Daniel Moi, and slightly over one month under President Mwai Kibaki’s regime.
While working in this office, I can well recall my immense appreciation of the leadership style of President Moi. He was a hands-on leader who was always well-informed on issues that touched on national security.
On various occasions he would call senior security officials including the permanent secretary in charge of security, the commissioner of police and even the director of CID to clarify on some matter of significance to security or to verify the reliability of some information.
For President Moi, it was important to speak frequently with the people entrusted with the security of the people of Kenya.
I still recall the occasion when the President would call using the reserved line known as the “hotline,” an exclusively installed telephone connected to selected offices and residences of senior government officials, dignitaries and other special persons closely associated with the corridors of power.
Hard questions
This telephone always received immediate attention whenever it rang because the recipient could not tell offhand who would be on the other side of the “hotline.” It might be the President, the Commissioner of Police or any other top official of the Government.
It was within our knowledge as security team that whenever the President called without his usual greetings, but only with the Kiswahili words…sikia wewe (you listen), it was a special warning shot and definite indication that things were not right.
At that juncture, it was important for the recipient of the call to be alert and prepare to answer some hard questions that would come from President Moi.
That notwithstanding, the CID has been directly answerable to the Commissioner of Police (now Inspector General of Police) operationally and administratively.
It was my special privilege to work as the Director of the CID for four years under the administration of President Daniel Moi, and slightly over one month under President Mwai Kibaki’s regime.
While working in this office, I can well recall my immense appreciation of the leadership style of President Moi. He was a hands-on leader who was always well-informed on issues that touched on national security.
On various occasions he would call senior security officials including the permanent secretary in charge of security, the commissioner of police and even the director of CID to clarify on some matter of significance to security or to verify the reliability of some information.
For President Moi, it was important to speak frequently with the people entrusted with the security of the people of Kenya.
I still recall the occasion when the President would call using the reserved line known as the “hotline,” an exclusively installed telephone connected to selected offices and residences of senior government officials, dignitaries and other special persons closely associated with the corridors of power.
Hard questions
This telephone always received immediate attention whenever it rang because the recipient could not tell offhand who would be on the other side of the “hotline.” It might be the President, the Commissioner of Police or any other top official of the Government.
It was within our knowledge as security team that whenever the President called without his usual greetings, but only with the Kiswahili words…sikia wewe (you listen), it was a special warning shot and definite indication that things were not right.
At that juncture, it was important for the recipient of the call to be alert and prepare to answer some hard questions that would come from President Moi.
All senior officials knew well that when the fireworks started blazing from the top, then things had to move very fast and everybody would be on their toes running up and down to get credible answers.
Everything moved at lightning speed and the chain reaction right from the top security officers to the lower levels was incredible. Everyone was trying to reach their officers on the ground to get first-hand information from their respective provincial and district level officers.
One would often have to leave their meal on the table in order to first resolve the issue and report to the President.
The President would call or summon different senior security operators on the same matter, depending on its gravity. Only later would one learn that other officers had been similarly called on the same matter.
The reason for this was probably so that he could be absolutely certain of the truth of any matter at hand. In case one of the officials contradicted this information while talking to the President, the officer would be viewed as uninformed.
As a matter of practice, we always shared any information of security concern with one another.
More often than not, when a matter was of serious security concern, the President would call the entire security team to either his Harambee House office or to any of the State Houses, especially those in Nairobi and Nakuru.
He wanted factual and convincing answers to his questions, with ready solutions to any immediate or emerging problems. Presenting problems to him without suggesting any answers was taboo.
With the coming in of the new government at the end of 2002 under President Kibaki, there was a complete overhaul of the top hierarchy in the Kenya Police Force and a similar one within the military.
Considerations other than merit were in my view the main reasons why these changes took place. It was apparent that power brokers had a lot to do with it.
It was obvious to me that power brokers were at work during the transition between the two regimes as senior officers were moved around to make space for others whom they preferred or were deemed to be politically correct.
Came as surprise
This was the case with many key security positions in the police force and other security organs, including the military.
In my case and that of other officers who had served under the Moi regime, conspirators within the public and security services provided their godfathers with often falsified information.
The announcement of the changes within the police force by the new Minister for Provincial Administration and Internal Security Chris Murungaru was done in an unusual manner during a specially convened television broadcast.
This came as a surprise to a majority of the serving officers.
To my immense regret, I happened to be one of the “victims” who was being transferred from the mainstream police service to be redeployed to the Office of the President in a still unannounced position.
The announcement made by the minister also affected the then Commissioner of Police Philemon Abong’o, who was redeployed as chairman of Stadia Services.
He was replaced by the late Edwin Nyaseda, who was then director of police operations at the police headquarters.
The massive retirements and transfers that were announced mainly affected senior military and police officers from certain regions of the country.
One thing that surprised me was the little concern exhibited by politicians who are often overly vocal whenever any such issues come in to the public domain.
There was talk that some of the most outspoken politicians from the affected regions had developed cold feet because they were not sure of their own fates within the new political dispensation. Truly, it has been said, politicians will leave a person high and dry if they overly rely on them.
In a way, I also felt relieved by the announcement since the working environment under the new regime during the one month it had been in office had changed drastically and was no longer comfortable to me.
To my utter disbelief, the standard working norms had shifted. I witnessed the kind of interference that was not in conformity with best practices and the norms of any police force.
The interference occurred mainly when a serious crime or incident involving a senior personality closely associated with the new authorities was reported.
Whenever such an incident happened, there would be persistent telephone calls from different influential people wanting to know the progress of the investigations.
Under the prevailing circumstances, the working atmosphere was becoming rather intolerable as it was contrary to the existing chain of command in the force I had wholeheartedly served.
Following my departure, I was replaced by Mr Daniel Ndung’u, one of the officers working at the Investigation Section at the CID headquarters.
Mandatory retirement
It so happened that I still had three years to go before mandatory retirement from police service and this may have been the reason why I was spared along with my colleague, Mr Japheth Mwania, from early retirement.
Soon after the transfer announcement was made, I commenced writing my handing over notes. While busy in my office one afternoon, my secretary, Mrs Hellen Koech, informed me that a corporal by the name of Gideon Wamocha, a staffer attached to the archive section of the CID headquarters, wanted to see me.
I knew him as an active member of the CID’s Christian community.
The corporal explained to me that though he was aware that I was about to leave the CID, he only wanted to share a word of prayer with me at that moment.
I offered him a seat but before he started his prayer, he encouraged me to take the transfer positively because God had good plans for me and that He would not forsake me at my hour of need.
Having completed writing the notes and given them to my successor, I proceeded to meticulously brief him on what I had done during my tenure and key areas that needed to be addressed for the smooth running of the department.
Immediately after the photo session, I was driven out of the precincts of the CID headquarters by my driver in one of the pool vehicles, a Peugeot 406.
When I reported to the Permanent Secretary in the Office of the President Dave Mwangi the following morning, I was surprised when the chief administrator told me that my new office had not yet been identified.
Without knowing my fate in the new environment, I left the PS’s office and remained quarantined in my house for almost ten days still not knowing my eventual destiny.
After a fortnight, I received a call one afternoon from the secretary to Mr Mwangi informing me that the PS wanted to see me immediately.
The letter explained the Government’s decision to second me to the Nairobi Secretariat on Small Arms and Light Weapons as Acting Director/Co-ordinator.
On arrival, Mr Mwangi gave me a posting letter to report to the PS Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Although the title of my new job gave the impression of a high profile office, the information I got was that the new office was still not operational.
