IG nominee Japhet Koome pledges to end corruption in police force

The Inspector General (IG) of Police nominee, Japhet Koome, has vowed to end the ugly culture of corruption denting police image in Kenya.

Koome admitted that bribery is rampant along Kenyan roads, a vice he promised to deal with if approved for the job.

“I will not sit here to attempt to defend, what is happening on our roads is ugly,” Koome said.

The IG nominee a joint parliamentary committee that under his command he will introduce a reward scheme for members of the public who report cases of police officers receiving bribes.

He further promised to make it mandatory for all officers on duty to display the name tags with at least two names for easy identification.

This, he said, would help eradicate the culture of bribery in the National Police Service.

“I intend to go further and engage service commanders to have a reward mechanisms to reward members of the public, any member of public who captures with evidence an officer receiving a bribe then there is a monetary reward for that.”

“The other strategy anchored in law is that any barrier along the road must be entered in the registry.”

President William Ruto nominated Koome for the IG of police position in September, after Hillary Mutyambai proceeded on terminal leave.

Should parliament approve his appointment, Koome will take over the leadership of the National Police Service at a time when it has come under intense scrutiny over brutality, enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings.

Over the past month, more than 20 police officers have been arrested in connection with various disappearances and killings.

Cases are ongoing under the keen watch of the public, human rights defender organizations and international bodies.