Armed angry and hungry: One psychologist serves more than 6,000 police officers

Within a span of four days inside 2021, five police officers have died in self-inflicted shooting incidents. This has set alarm bells ringing among civilians struggling to accommodate cops living within their neigbourhoods.

Many Kenyans have been wondering how safe they are if some police officers, who are mandated to protect them, have no respect for human life following a string of homicides and suicides involving cops.

Two years ago, an initiative dubbed Muamko Mpya-Healing the Uniform was launched to sensitise all officers on trauma healing and psychological wellbeing.

The programme facilitated by Green String Network, seeks to empower cops by enhancing their sensitivity to issues of stress and trauma, which they routinely encounter in their professional and personal lives. The expected end result is that officers will make informed choices when confronted with stressful and traumatic situations. But by mid last year, only a paltry 400 officers had been trained.

At the same time, the National Police Service Commission (NPSC) launched National Police Service Counseling and Rehabilitation Centre but which is currently understaffed. The centre has 16 psychologist serving four regions collapsed into former Nairobi, Central, Eastern, North Eastern, Coast, Rift Valley, Nyanza and Western provinces.
“What this means is that one psychologist is serving more than 6,000 officers. Can such an expert really have an impact when we know the cases are overwhelming,” posed a police counselor.

Joseph Onyango, chief executive officer of NPSC while acknowledging the high level of stress, attributed part of the problem to lack of closer supervisions of officers. He said the counseling centre, which is up and running, will be progressively set up in all the counties.