Police reforms lack political will

Police officers have an important and often dangerous role in society. The Kenya Police Service has a long history of engaging in unprofessional, corrupt, and criminal conduct. Senior police officers enforce a perverse system of “returns” in which rank-and-file officers are compelled to pay up the chain of command a share of the money they extort from the public.

Due to endemic impunity within the service, it has proved difficult to effectively manage and control. It has become largely unaccountable and a symbol of unfettered corruption, mismanagement and abuse.