TWO citizens have gone to court seeking to postpone reforms in the police force and in particular the appointment of an Inspector General of Police. They want the present Police Commissioner Matthew Iteere to remain in control of the police.

They argue that it would be unwise to change the leadership of the police just before an election and during the present instability at the Coast and elsewhere.

The suspicion is that powerful figures in the establishment want to stall the reform process and maintain the status quo. These arguments are fundamentally misguided. The imminent election and the persistent low-level insecurity in Kenya are reasons for accelerating the reform process in Kenya, not for postponing it.

Moreover it is now becoming clear that the police themselves are resistant to reform. They particularly oppose an outsider or a civilian becoming Inspector General. The force insists that only a career police officer will understand the technicalities of their profession. There is some truth in this but in reality only an outsider can openly confront many problems that have been covered up in the police force.

The court should reject this application so that the constitutionally mandated reform process continues.