Cyrus Ombati
30 March 2008
analysis
Nairobi — Many did not know what to expect when an Army Brigadier marched to Vigilance House and took over leadership four years ago.
It was on the morning of April 4, 2004, when Maj Gen Mohamed Hussein Ali received a call summoning him to State House to receive the news of his appointment.
There was a collective sigh of relief when President Kibaki appointed Brigadier (as he then was) Ali as the first military man to head the police force.
He was plucked from the cosy position of Second Commander, Western Brigade in Gilgil, to take command of the police force - a band comprising more than 40,000 hardened men and women with a reputation no one envies.
Ali turns four years in the force this Friday. There is, however, anxiety whether he will continue as the top cop.
This comes at a time when there are expected changes as a result of the power-sharing deal between PNU and ODM.
In a country where the citizenry generally loathe police, anyone would be forgiven for regarding the holder of Commissioner of Police post a public enemy.
When Ali was appointed, it was expected he would introduce the discipline and professionalism that was lacking in the force.
It was also expected that the military man would streamline and de-politicise the force, which had become one of the tools of the incumbent government in the war against rivals.
The appointment echoed a highly successful experiment Uganda President Yoweri Museveni had done by picking an army General, Maj-Gen Wamala Katumba, as Inspector General of the country's police force.
Ali's office, on the third floor of police headquarters, Vigilance House, is imposing as he sits behind an oak-table surrounded by walls lined by sequined, deep-hued velvet canvases. The office has a thick clean carpet.
Apart from a row of telephones arranged on his desk and a heap of files, another feature is a voluminous dictionary - a fitting adornment for a man who ranks as one of the most eloquent senior public servant.
Being a military man, it was not an easy task for him to gain the confidence of the 40,000 police officers and police chiefs who were over-looked in the appointment of the commissioner.
So, four years down the line, have things changed in the force and has the security situation improved?
"Well, statistics show a remarkable reduction of crime, particularly violent crime. You can now walk on many streets without being attacked, thanks to the patrols by the police officers," says Ali.
He adds: "It is true, crime remains a significant challenge but as to if things have improved let the public tell."
There are, however, varied views both in the force and public on how he runs the force. Some officers and members of the public feel he has lost direction and grip of the force.
Single-handed administrator
Lamentations are at the peak in the force amongst officers who claim Ali is running the outfit single-handedly and by allegedly abandoning the Force Standing Orders that govern police.
The working morale amongst some of those lamenting is at its lowest ebb and now want him to either change his mode of leadership or be removed.
The opposition has repeatedly accused police of being a PNU tool, especially after last year's discredited presidential elections, and called on him to resign. Some PNU legislators have also accused him of incompetence.
While police data indicate a fall in crime incidents and that there are enough officers at all places, there are still complaints that citizens in certain areas live in fear, at the mercy of organised criminal gangs.
Gangs like, Sabaot Land Defence Force (SDLF), Mungiki and Sungusungu continue to pose a challenge to the force. And had it not been the help of the military in the ongoing operation in Mt Elgon, SDLF could still be the force's nightmare.
Mungiki and other banned vigilante groups continue to be a headache both to the public and security apparatus.
Since he took over as the commissioner of police he has achieved many goals but he is yet to meet some. Part of the challenges that he is yet to meet include the much needed police reforms and the improvement of the officers' welfare, which is being addressed for now.
Ali is lively when discussing matters of police, especially their welfare. He says: "Officers will soon shift to new permanent houses and by next year we hope to have finished housing projects valued at Sh20 billion. We are happy with what the Government is doing so far."
Plans to start a police academy in Nairobi - which will be offering diploma, degree and masters programmes in criminology and psychology - are complete although the programmes are yet to kick off.
This will enable the force to handle crime professionally, increase their capacity in training and earn them respect both locally and internationally.
The force plans to have its own hospital.
However no one is talking about it despite reports that the force had acquired a 17-acre piece of land in the city for the project.
Ali is an early riser and a hard worker according to his colleagues. Officers at Vigilance House say he gets to the office at 6am and leaves shortly before 9pm and sometimes past. He is always informed on the happenings in the country.
"He is a workaholic. He arrives by 6am and leaves at 9pm. He is dedicated to his work but the challenges are enormous that requires our input also," says one senior officer.
Ali says the force has acquired vehicles to help in combating crime although they are not enough.
"We are correcting the mess accumulated for the last four decades by addressing some of the issues that needed to be looked into a long time ago but were neglected," he argues.
Several police stations have been built, while others are under construction and refurbishment as part of efforts to address public needs.
The force's working capacity has been boosted following last year's double intake of recruits.
The latest number of recruits to graduate was more than 2,000 and the force has so far recruited 4,000 more. They started training last Friday.
Ali has put in place many institutions that will make the force run smoothly. For instance, there is a fully-fledged complaints and investigative team based at Vigilance House.
But many institutional reforms, including promotion of officers, are yet to bear fruit. There are hundreds of officers who have stagnated in their ranks for years.
Promotion on merit
The formation of promotion board was expected to herald a system where promotions are based on merit.
Officers say the board has boosted their morale, as they are sure of promotion due to their hard work.
Unlike in the past, police officers are now being supplied with uniforms and other working materials.
Ali has ended an era of two powerful camps in the force; one at the CID and the other within the uniformed officers - both reporting to State House and other influential personalities.
He has distinguished himself as a remarkable reformist officer despite some bottlenecks that litter his career.
It is during his leadership that hooded policemen raided The Standard Group office, many police officers were killed in line of duty and many others sacked.
Under his watch, there has been a big number of resignations of police officers who cite poor terms of service and leadership.
His character came to the fore when he opposed the March 2, 2005, raid on The Standard Group and termed it illegal.
He has always been on record imploring his officers to stick to the law whenever discharging duties.
Critics, however, argue they do not like the way the paratrooper runs the force. Some say Ali forgets that the police is more of a civilian institution hence needs to open up to win public confidence.
Ali receives briefs only from only senior officers, as it is the case in the military, an issue some of the officers argue has done damage to his reforms. They want him to occasionally consult junior officers on what is happening on the ground.
But on his side, the police boss says he is in charge and in the right direction.
"You cannot have a popular police boss. If they think I'm not popular let them seek an alternative."
In the Government, there are also those who have been unhappy with how the military man runs the show. They have gone as far as reporting him to State House.
Some of the senior officials, who include Cabinet ministers, for instance reported Ali to the President last year that he was harassing members of the Mungiki gang and demanded that a crackdown on the sect be stopped.
When summoned, Ali is said to have stuck to his guns and insisted that Mungiki is a criminal gang that must be stopped at all costs.
He was sometimes at loggerheads with his former Internal Security minister, Mr John Michuki, over the manner he ran the force's affairs.
He expanded the Nairobi Area command administrative boundaries, which saw the inclusion of some neighbouring provinces into the city's structure to improve efficiency.
He adds that plans are under way for the CID to acquire forensic investigations equipment and other apparatus to boost the force's performance.
It is also under Ali's watch that the force established the Tourism and Diplomatic units.
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