Kenya’s National Police Service (NPS) is set to prohibit cross-rank marriages among its officers. The move is aimed at curbing the rise in sexual harassment and indiscipline.
The Country’s Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i was quoted saying, “We will draw the line, we will not touch those who are already married in the service across ranks.
Senior police officers who opt to have affairs and relations with their junior police officers and they want to marry them, one of them has to leave the service, we cannot continue this way.”
The directive is set be effected by July this year.
Citizen TV reports that in 2020, the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) said they were investigating complaints by some female police officers that they are sexually harassed by their seniors.
IPOA said the officers had sent confidential details of their alleged ordeals, claiming that some of their bosses demand sexual favours.
A 2013 study conducted by IPOA revealed that sexual harassment was rampant in the police force.
At the time, the authority said it had received 759 complaints against individual police officers. (CGTN Africa, with input from Citizen TV)
