Disciplinary Procedures and Justice for Accused Administration Police Service Officers in Nairobi City County, Kenya
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Date
2021
Authors
Muniu, David Njoroge
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Kenyatta University
Abstract
It had been observed that a number of Administration Police Service (APS) officers
that had been subjected to disciplinary proceedings had appealed in court the
outcomes of the disciplinary process citing procedural unfairness that resulted to
unjust outcomes. The purpose of this study was to explore the nexus between
disciplinary procedures and justice in the APS in Nairobi City County, Kenya and was
anchored on theory of justice by John Rawls which states that “adapting two basic
principles of justice would ensure a just community. The study had four specific
objectives namely; to examine the influence of discretionary power of an arbiter on
justice to APS officer in Nairobi City County, Nairobi, to assess the effect of use of
past record of conduct in disciplinary procedure on justice to APS officer in Nairobi
City County, Nairobi, to analyze the influence of responsibility of the burden of proof
on justice to accused APS officer in Nairobi City County, Nairobi and to establish the
changes required in disciplinary procedures to enhance justice to accused APS officer
in Nairobi City County, Nairobi. A mixed research design of cross-sectional survey
design and exploratory research design were employed on a target population of 679
APS officers stationed in Nairobi City County, Kenya. A sample size of 251 officers
was requested to fill the questionnaires. Purposive sampling was used to get6 key
informants (for in-depth information) who were senior police officers that had
presided over disciplinary proceedings and two groups of 6 and 7 police officers
totaling to 13 police officers that had been subjected to disciplinary proceedings to
participate in focus group discussion (FGD). This research involved triangulation (use
of multiple research tools) data collection methods consisting of questionnaires to
collect quantitative and qualitative data from respondents, FGD and interviews to
collect qualitative data. Reliability of the instrument was tested by using the internal
consistency technique of Cronbach‟s Alpha. A coefficient of 0.79was accepted as a
measure of reliability. Descriptive statistics were used to present quantitative data in
form of tables while qualitative data were coded into categories to develop themes to
corroborate findings from the questionnaires. The study established that the majority
of presiding officers are not independent in making decisions and are not experienced
in application of their discretionary power in Orderly Room Proceedings (ORP), it
further found that reliance on past records of an accused officer influences the
outcome negatively. The study outcomes showed that there is no strict presumption of
innocence in disciplinary proceedings and the burden of proof was clearly defined.
The study determined that there was need for change on disciplinary procedures in
APS and recommended that presiding officers be trained and retrained on disciplinary
process, past record of an accused police officer to have a limited life National Police
Service Commission (NPSC) to be devolved to handle disciplinary matters and the
burden of proof to be squarely on the prosecution.
Description
A Research Project Submitted to the Department of Security and Correction Science in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Art in Leadership and Security Management of Kenyatta University, November, 2021
Keywords
Disciplinary Procedures, Justice f, Accused, Administration Police, Service Officers, Nairobi City County, Kenya