IG Kanja snubs MPs over police payroll

By Newsflash Writer

Inspector-General of Police Douglas Kanja faces possible backlash from MPs after failing to honour his commitment to hand over the police payroll to the National Police Service Commission (NPSC).

On July 29, while appearing before the National Assembly’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC), Mr. Kanja had promised to transfer the payroll to the commission, a move meant to address concerns raised by Auditor-General Nancy Gathungu. The committee gave him two weeks to finalise the process without drama.

However, more than a month later, NPSC Chief Executive Officer Peter Lelei confirmed that the IG has not fulfilled his pledge. “He has not handed over the payroll as directed by the parliamentary committee,” Mr. Lelei said, questioning the motive behind the reluctance. “I don’t know what it is they are protecting. But it is our function, as confirmed by Auditor-General reports.”

By the tine of going to press, National Police Service (NPS) had not responded to Newsflash’s enquiries.

Constitutional mandate and growing tensions

The management of the payroll has been at the centre of the long-standing turf wars between the NPSC and the police service. Article 246(3) of the Constitution gives the NPSC the authority to recruit, appoint, confirm, promote and transfer police officers. While it can delegate some roles to the NPS, the human resource function—including payroll—remains its exclusive mandate.

Like other State entities, the commission requires payroll access for audit purposes, such as verifying that officers who have retired, resigned, been dismissed, or died have been struck off the records.

Auditor-General reports show that denial of access has crippled the NPSC’s ability to monitor HR policy implementation, with Mr. Lelei accusing the NPS of sabotage.

During the July PAC session attended by Mr. Lelei, Mr. Kanja and his deputies, the IG struggled to justify why he had not handed over the payroll. The committee, chaired by Butere MP Tindi Mwale, directed him to comply within two weeks or face unspecified action. “You are hereby directed to hand over all HR functions, including the payroll, to the commission. Failure to do so will compel us to take the necessary steps,” Mr. Mwale ordered.

Mr. Kanja had then assured MPs of cooperation, saying, “We are going to comply as directed by this committee. We will hand over the payroll to the NPSC.” His continued failure to deliver has now reignited tensions, with lawmakers weighing possible sanctions against him.