Top cop reveals how he earns his millions
Former deputy police spokesman Charles Owino amused a vetting panel when he said he is the only living solution to the problems bedeviling the service.
Mr Owino further told the panelists to expect more millions in his bank accounts in case he is interviewed again in a year’s time.
He said he is expecting millions of shillings from his fish farm where he is about to harvest 20,000 tilapias which will sell at Sh250 each.
“Unilever and National Housing Corporation have been sending me between Sh9 million and Sh10 million from time to time,” he said.
“I am a solution to the problems police officers are facing and I am sure God will make someone see that. I am the change the Kenya Police Service needs, not unless I die,” he told the Johnstone Kavuludi-led panel in Nakuru on Thursday.
GRAND CORRUPTION
The 45-year-old Senior Superintendent of Police attributed corruption and low morale in the service to lack of a scheme of service, poor remuneration and societal rot which upholds and rewards graft.
“Police have a lot of power and it is unfair to put so much power on an individual with too little in their pockets,” he said.
“It is sad that police officer armed with a dog and a gun is earning Sh16,000 a month compared to a KK guard who earns Sh35,000 only with a rungu,” Mr Owino said.
Mr Owino agreed corruption was rampant in the service but was quick to add that this only mirrored the society.
“There is grand corruption in the society. People, including the parliamentarians who are making the most noise on graft, are willing to bribe police officers. We have had cases of traffic police officers being run over by motorist for refusing to take bribes,” he said, citing a case in Nyanza where three officers were ran over by a matatu.
“Society praises those who are corrupt and rewards them while condemning those who stick by the law,” he said.
Asked why he had short stints in various stations he said: “It is because of my radical, progressive and honest nature. My nature is to tell the truth.”
ACADEMIC QUALIFICATION
Meanwhile, lack of academic certificates and failure by officers to declare wealth dominated the vetting of over 120 senior officers from South Rift Valley at Rift Valley Police Officers’ mess.
At least two senior superintendents admitted they only had the primary school education. Ongata Rongai police chief Silas Mutiga Ringera said he only had a primary education certificate.
However, he said he had contained crime in Ongata Rongai. “Crime rate in Ongata Rongai has drastically gone down, my education notwithstanding,” he said.
Kajiado County Administration boss Moses Maritim said he did not complete his Form Four at Kitale High. He dropped out in Form Three. He also said he could not remember the exact year he left school.
Mr Maritim declared his income from wheat farming in Narok was Sh300,000 but on further interrogation revealed it was Sh700,000.