Police bosses summoned to Nairobi ahead of major changes

Top police commanders have been summoned to Nairobi for a briefing on planned reforms that President Uhuru Kenyatta is expected to attend.

The meeting, christened ‘IG’s Communication’, will start tomorrow and end on Thursday. The President will address the commanders at the Kenya School of Government and launch the reform programme.

Improve efficiency

Last month, Uhuru gave Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i and Inspector General of Police Joseph Boinnet 30 days come up with a framework and strategy to improve efficiency in the police service.

He said the Government would continue investing in the National Police Service (NPS) to boost efficiency.

He said to this end, the Government had increased the allocation to NPS from Sh53.6 billion in 2013 to Sh97.6 billion in the 2018-2019 financial year, adding that Kenyans expected positive returns for their taxes.

“I therefore expect that such investment should translate into corresponding or equivalent returns on investments,” he said.

Uhuru added that since 2013, the Government had increased the strength of NPS with 30,000 more officers to attain the current police to population ratio estimated at 1:425.

He said under the NPS modernisation plan, which has been accelerated over the past six years, the Government had continued to improve logistical and operational capability to ensure enhanced policemobility, CCTV surveillance of major cities, provision of forensic facilities and better equipment.

Administration Police

Uhuru said there was need to re-examine efficiency in the security system to identify and seal points of capacity leakage and ensure prudent use of resources.

The planned changes include conversion of some Administration Police officers to Kenya Police personnel.

Those identified will be retrained at the Kenya PoliceTraining College, Kiganjo and at the Administration Police Training College. 

All officers who joined the service before 2011 will be sent to the colleges in groups for retraining while those who joined after will be left as the lean team to manage core mandates.

The remaining group will have a refresher course at the AP Kanyonyo College before being redeployed.

Those who have seen the proposals for structural changes say more than 3,600 chiefs’ camps in the country will be turned into modern police posts. 

All the country’s 1,520 wards will have police stations while constituencies will also have police divisions as part of efforts to devolve services across the country.

Further, the Anti-Stock Theft Unit (ASTU) will now be run under the Administration Police. The unit will join the Rapid Deployment Unit, Rural Border Patrol Unit and Security of Government Buildings, which will remain under the Administration Police.

Almost half of the 47,000-strong AP staff will be adopted by the Kenya Police.

The planned changes will also see the service adopt new standards of operation that include consolidating resources under one command in any given area.

For instance, all police vehicles in a given division will be managed and run by the local Officer Commanding Police Division.