"Fake": NPS addresses claims of appointing over 30 Kalenjin OCSs in Nairobi

This story has significance for readers across Kenya and beyond.

- The National Police Service labelled a circulating list of 33 Nairobi OCS names as fake on Wednesday, August 5

- The viral post named individual officers commanding each Nairobi police station, with the majority bearing Kalenjin-sounding names

- A section of Kenyans on X demanded NPS publish the verified list of serving OCSs to counter the misinformation

The National Police Service (NPS) has publicly dismissed a widely shared social media post that purported to list the Officers Commanding Station (OCS) at all 33 Nairobi police stations, with the majority of names carrying Kalenjin ethnic markers.

The NPS issued the denial on Wednesday, August 5, describing the list as fake.

The post had circulated on X, naming specific officers at stations ranging from Central Police Station to Umoja Police Station, and had drawn significant attention due to the predominance of "Kip-" prefixes among the listed names, widely associated with the Kalenjin community.

The post also positively identified Eliud Lagat as the Deputy Police Inspector General.

NPS labels the post fake

The police service's official communication stopped short of publishing a corrected list of OCSs, a response that several Kenyans on X found inadequate.

The denial alone did not satisfy users who argued that transparency required the NPS to release verified officer assignments to replace the contested information.

@zwangentaba said, "Give us the right list. Flagging it as fake is not enough."

@krombopulos_eth questioned whether the officers named actually existed in the service: "Thank you for the clarity, but maybe you show us the names of the real OCSs of Nairobi. If it is fake then are the police officers named there also fake? Are they real police? Do they still serve in those stations?"

@njoguwagunjo echoed the call for official disclosure, writing, "Since they are public officers, the @NPSOfficial_KE should post the list of serving OCSs in Nairobi. This will stop the fake news."

Not all respondents questioned the denial. @benson_wil57510 appeared to partially corroborate the NPS position, noting, "Makongeni OCS is not a Kalenjin. That I can confirm."

Calls to punish misinformation

Some users shifted the conversation towards the legal treatment of those responsible for spreading false content.

@EkalMoses wrote, "People spread misinformation, and disinformation should be punished by law. We can't continue like this in this 21st century; it's immoral, to say the least."

The episode reflects persistent tensions in Kenya around ethnic representation in public institutions, particularly in the security services.

Allegations of imbalanced appointments along tribal lines have recurred as a political flashpoint in recent years, making unverified lists of this nature especially sensitive when they circulate without attribution or supporting documentation.

The NPS had not published the verified OCS assignments for Nairobi's 33 stations at the time of publication.

Boda rider dies after release from Muthaiga Station?

In other news, protests erupted after Eric Otieno, a 20-year-old boda boda rider, died hours after his release from the Muthaiga Police Station.

Prior to his death, Otieno alleged that he had been severely beaten by five police officers who arrested him.

His family revealed that the officers demanded KSh 10,000 bail amid his pain. They demanded justice after a postmortem confirmed that Otieno died of severe bleeding and injuries to his abdomen, spleen, and bowels.

Source: TUKO.co.ke

Reporting originally appeared via TUKO. Read the full source for additional context.