Kenyan Sheekhaal In trouble

[hanad_mn]

Maj-Gen Ali, who has headed the force for nearly six years, could be removed from office if the government adopts proposals by a team of experts headed by Mr Justice (rtd) Philip Ransley.

The team’s report was handed over to President Kibaki on Tuesday and among a myriad of radical recommendations, blames the police chief and other senior officers for the problems affecting the force.

It blames the police for inefficiency, rampant corruption and human rights abuses among other ills.

Maj-Gen Ali was appointed from the Army in 2004 with the mandate to instill discipline and transform a beleaguered force. But with time, the decades-old ills associated with the police have continued to mount, as well as criticism against Ali’s leadership style.

Senior officers who work closely with the Police Commissioner, but who could not be named lest they are penalised for breaking force procedures, described their boss as domineering.

Quite often, they said, Maj-Gen Ali has little room for other people’s ideas in regard to the police profession.

On the other hand, others close to him cite him for intelligence, saying he is a no-nonsense officer.

In particular, they say Maj-Gen Ali has always stood firm against politicians and other senior government officials who would otherwise seek to influence the work of the police at the expense of general public.

Even with Ransley’s report calling for a shake-up of the police leadership, Maj-Gen Ali’s departure is not certain, having survived previous attempts to remove him from office.

The Waki commission investigated the post-election violence and recommended that a military officer should not head the police.

The United Nations special rapporteur on extrajudicial killings Prof Philip Alston said the Maj-Gen Ali should be sacked, accusing him of abetting unlawful killings of suspected criminals.