Police offer Joshua Ongoro, who is a Director of Operations at Vigilance House, could not hold back tears yesterday as he explained to the National Police Service Commision (NPSC) vetting team in Eldoret town panel about his past, especially on his wealth.
After his bank account statements were presented, Mr Ongoro was found to have a fixed account with Sh8 million yet he rarely makes any withdrawals, which raised questions from the panel. Ongoro, who was asked to explain how he has acquired his property over the years was overwhelmed by emotions as he recounted how he went through hardship to make it to where he is now.
“Before I made it to where I am today, I can attest to this panel that I have undergone a rough time since my parents had nothing at all. Many a time we slept on empty stomachs,” said Ongoro as he broke into tears.NPSC Chairman Johnston Kavuludi, who chaired the vetting process, and the panel officials, had to halt the process for Ongoro to compose himself.
The panel members asked Ongoro to explain how he earns a living apart from his salary from the police service.He explained that apart from his salary, he and his family depend on a grocery business he opened for his wife from his savings.“I secured a Sh70,000 loan and opened a grocery business for my wife with Sh17,000. We spent a further amount on food and the rest went to savings,” narrated Ongoro.
He stated that since then, he has been saving his salary and making rare withdrawals since they depend on what is generated from the grocery, which thrives well, as well as income from wheat farming.
Some of the complaints raised against Ongoro during the vetting session included taking the law into his hands and failure to comply with several disciplinary matters among other issues when he was a traffic police officer way back in 1986. “We are here to deal with facts and I hope whatever you say is true because we have all the facts to back what the panel has,” said Kavuludi.Kavuludi insisted that police officers should not dwell on the past but focus on the present and the future, and on how to make the country secured.
