APRM • SECOND COUNTRY REVIEW REPORT OF THE REPUBLIC OF KENYA 146. The Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) is mandated to ensure accountability in the police service and improve trust and image in the public; however it only has investigative powers and can only refer cases for prosecution. The Prevention of Torture Bill 2014 is yet to be passed, an important law in further prevention abuse of power and office by police office against civilians, although the Police Act prohibits the use of Torture by the Police. Nonetheless given the role of civilians in engaging in organised crime and torture in the past, there is a gap in protecting citizens from torture. The IPOA in response to allegations of human rights violations against civilians by police has undertaken several investigations but complaints of misconduct by the public continue. 147. The National Police Service embarked on a police vetting exercise using the parameters of finances and human rights record; to date 1566 officers have been vetted and only one officer was found to be unfit after the human rights vetting. In June 2016, 302 police officers that evaded the vetting exercise were dismissed from the force. Referrals of suspicious cases have been made to the appropriate agencies including the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission. The Commission has focused on the traffic department and vetted those in the coast region, Nyanza and rift valley and intends to target the directorate of criminal investigations too. 148. The recruitment of police officers has been a priority reform area but the process faced procedural hurdles, delaying the recruitment and training of officers. In June, 2014, the National Police Service Commission (NPSC) undertook the recruitment of 10,000 Kenyans for service in the Kenya Police, Administration Police and General Service Unit countrywide. However after the recruitments there were complaints and allegations corruption, tribalism, nepotism and other malpractices surrounding the exercise. The Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) recommended to the NPSC and the National Police Service (NPS) the cancellation of the recruitment process and the undertaking of a new one. The NPSC refused and instead established a Multi-Agency Working Committee to investigate the claims of alleged irregularities and misconduct relating to the recruitment exercise, which led to the cancellation of recruitment results of 36 recruitment Centres. 149. However the IPOA filed a case in court (Petition No 390 of 2014) seeking to nullify the overall exercise on the basis that the NPSC had delegated its recruitment function to Sub-County Recruitment Committees and the exercise was undertaken without the NPS developing policies, regulations and procedures for the proper conduct of the recruitment exercise. For example the IPOA alleged that a number of women were disqualified from the exercise on the grounds that they were pregnant thus contravening Article 27 of the Constitution. The Court declared the entire recruitment exercise illegal and ordered for a repeat of the recruitment. After the Recruitment and Appointment Regulations, 2015 were published; the Police recruitment exercise was conducted with KNRC and the Police Reform Working Group monitoring the process. The KNRC raised its concerns about the failure of the second recruitment exercise to adhere to regulations and place appropriate emphasis on academic excellence and gender parity and ethnic balance among other things as a means of transforming the police service and breaking with its past image.9 Kenya National Human Rights Commission ‘Disservice to the service: Report of the Monitoring of the 2016 Recruitment of Police Constables to the NPS’ 2016 9 | 97 |