The Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) has announced that Gideon Kibunja will be taking over as the new Director of Personnel at the investigative agency.

He is taking over from Dr Mwangi Wanderi who was redeployed to the Kenya Railways as the head of investigations.

Kibunja has had an illustrious career in the investigations docket, holding various positions such as the Commandant DCI Academy, Director, School of Leadership at the National Police College main campus–Kiganjo, and Rift Valley Regional Criminal Investigations Officer among other senior positions.

Additionally, the detective served the investigative agency as the head of investigations in Busia and Machakos counties, before joining the Directorate of Personnel and Training at the DCI headquarters in Nairobi, which saw him scale the ranks from staff officer-personnel III, to Director personnel.

According to the DCI, Kibunja also once served as the head of the ruthless Flying Squad unit that was disbanded in 2018 and was replaced by the elite Special Service Unit.

The unit is said to have been disbanded due to the numerous allegations of impunity by members of the public and that some police officers colluded with criminals in their felonious ways. 

The changes were made by DCI boss George Kinoti on Friday, May 6 who stated that they were long overdue, expressing confidence that the senior officers would continue delivering on DCI’s mandate in their new stations, adding that deployments and redeployments were a healthy human resource function in any progressive institution.

This was after disquiet over delayed promotions of senior officers, with many claiming that they were due for advancements in their careers and was affecting the overall working morale of the officers and general command.

There are reports that their documents are lying at the desks of the National Police Service Commission and Inspector General of Police, while others are yet to be approved by the President.