Charles Owino: Parents push their wayward children to join police service
By Aloys Michael, September 17, 2025Former police spokesperson Charles Owino has said the quality of police recruits entering the service does not match the standards set by previous generations.
Speaking in an interview on a local TV station on Wednesday, September 17, 2025, Owino emphasised that the recruitment process must meet all the required standards.
“There is a feeling that policemen have not been educated, people. Policemen have had very, very, very well-educated people. It is now that I am seeing funny people, but the people we got, the old men we got in service, were solid, were intelligent, were competent,” he said.
Drawing from personal experience, Owino cited notable figures in the force’s history, including the first African Commissioner of Police, Bernard Hinga, who was appointed at just 32 years of age.
Owinoo’s remarks follow the government’s announcement of 10,000 new officer recruits.
“He was talent spotted when I was a student at Reliance High School in 1954. A Division 1 was taken for a diploma at Durham University. But they knew that Uhuru was coming, and they had to start developing Africans,” he argued.
“Look at the category of persons who were running the police from the time we got independence.”
Owino lamented that the police service has become a dumping site for some parents with ill-mannered children who also see the police recruitment as a last resort for underperforming youths.
“We see a worrying trend where some parents push their wayward children into the service, saying, ‘Huyu amenishinda peleka yeye akuwe polisi,’ and ‘Huyu amepata D, peleka yeye akuwe polisi.’ Such practices undermine the integrity and professionalism of the force,” he said.
Digital police recruitment
The former police mouthpiece criticised the police shift toward a digital-only application, citing access issues for many recruits.
“The government is struggling with the digital superhighway; children may not even get bundles. Personally, I felt we were trying to bite off too much,” he explained.
Owino instead wants a return to in-person recruitment at local centres, where candidates would go through a multi-stage selection process including document verification, educational screening, dictation tests, and physical fitness evaluations.
Meanwhile, Inspector General of Police (IG) Douglas Kanja has assured Kenyans of a fair and transparent police recruitment process while warning that anyone who goes against the transparency will be taken to jail.
The IG made his remarks on Monday, September 15, 2025, during an interview with a local media house, where he acknowledged that, indeed, in police recruitment, there is a lot of corruption.
The IG assured Kenyans that this time round, there will be transparency, as they are working closely with the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) to gather any corrupt information.
“In recruitment, there is a lot of corruption; that is what we all know, and this time round I want to assure Kenyans that this time round we are going to recruit police officers in a manner,” Kanja said.