Inspector-General of Police nominee Japheth Koome is on Tuesday expected to answer tough questions on his suitability, with views submitted by the public and rights group informing parts of the proceedings.
Mr Koome is to appear before a special joint parliamentary committee on security at a time the National Police Service is under scrutiny over extra-judicial killings.
Key among the matters expected is human rights violations by police officers, particularly enforced disappearances and killings, some of which occurred during Mr Koome’s term as Nairobi police chief.
One infamous incident is the April 2017 execution of two teenagers in Eastleigh, in full glare of the public, by a man identified as an officer based at Pangani police station.
As the clip of the shooting made the rounds on social media, the shooter was identified as a member of an police unit known at the time as “Pangani Six” who reportedly had shoot-to-kill orders.
Allegations later emerged that the orders to execute the teenagers came from senior police officers.
Nairobi County Police Commander was Mr Koome at the time, though it is not clear if he was directly involved.
The killings were seen by rights groups as a deliberate move by the top officers in Nairobi to send a message to criminals on what awaited them.
“I will kill many more,” the police boss told the Daily Nation in a recorded phone call shortly after the Eastleigh incident.
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Mr Koome accused the teenagers of belonging to an armed gang behind the killing of two police officers.
He said a corporal based in Kayole had been killed a week earlier.
Another officer, Mr Koome said, was killed in Soweto on the night of March 31, a few hours before the teenagers were executed.
“Yesterday, I buried an officer killed by the same gangsters. Another was shot dead in Kayole. Now I have to bury another officer,” Mr Koome said. BY DAILY NATION