A new plan by the National Police Service to stop marriage between officers has sparked outrage among members of the public.
The new rule that will take effect from July 2021 prohibits officers from dating or marrying each other, and if they have to, one of them must leave the service.
This has not settled well with some members of the public who have castigated Matiang’I for curtailing police officers’ social freedom.
Murang’a Senator Irungu Kang’ata said the new rule is a violation of human rights, and called for its abolishment. He cited that it was not right to impose a rule over a general assumption, as there are police officers who are happily married.
“This is knee jerk reaction that violates human rights. A fallacy of false generalization. There are many happily married police couples. Many women have been killed by police without having any relationship with them. Please reverse,” Wrote Kang’ata on his Twitter account.
A number of Kenyans also gave their opinions, stating that the relationships are not wrong, but rather issues of mental illness are not well addressed in the police service.
“It is purely nonsensical… I think some of them have mental health issues brought about by frustrations e.g poor pay. They should also be coached on emotional intelligence. Some of us have spouses and we would never resort to violence no matter the issue,” Wrote Wairimu.
Here are some reactions from Kenyans on Twitter.
Matiang’I came reached at this decision because of cases of murder caused by domestic violence among police couples. He also stated that the move will curtail sexual harassment in the police service.
“We have agreed that we will draw the line at this point. Senior police officers who opt to have affairs and relationships with the junior police officers and they want to marry them, one of them has to leave the service. We cannot continue this way,” Matiang’i said.
