The Government will soon launch a competition for senior police officers to fast-track the realization of reforms within the National Police Service.
Speaking during the opening of a leadership development course for Regional Police Commanders at the National Police Senior Staff College (Loresho Campus), Interior Cabinet Secretary, Dr. Fred Matiang’i, said that a committee has already been set up to draft a comprehensive assessment criteria to identify the best police station in the country.
“The assessment criteria will involve citizen reviews on services and the general outlook of that facility. We will forward the details of the best OCS to the National Police Service Commission for automatic promotion,” Dr. Matiang’i said, adding that the competition, which will begin in July 2019, will be done in collaboration with other agencies, including the State Department for Correctional Services.
The Cabinet Secretary emphasized the need for citizen participation towards the success of the ongoing police reforms and urged the newly appointed Regional Police Commanders to engage with various civil society groups, Faith-Based Organisations (FBOs), and local organizations to find long-term solutions to various security challenges in the country.
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While acknowledging some of the existing issues in the management of the diverse police workforce, he challenged them to step up as managers, leaders, and mentors to curb such cases as depression and suicide among the officers.
“Service is about interacting with the people you are working with, including those under you— not bossing them about,” he stated.
“We are operating in a highly-sophisticated criminal environment; we cannot rely on weapons in addressing our security challenges,” Dr. Matiang’i said, adding that capacity development is one of the most viable resources imperative for achieving long-term objectives in an evolving security landscape.
He also announced that H.E. President Uhuru Kenyatta will soon commission a premier leadership training college in Karen as part of the Government’s efforts to institutionalize reforms within the National Police Service.
The facility, which will be one of a kind in Africa, will enhance capacity building initiatives and offer training for senior police officers on internationally approved and best practices in policing.
Dr. Matiang’i also divulged that the Government is planning to inject more resources into the deployment of technology to aid in the management of security services, especially border patrol and information-sharing between various actors.
In the same breath, the CS highlighted some of the successes of the partnership between the internal security sector and the Ministry of ICT, key among them the Digital Human Resource Information System for the National Police Service, which has so far captured the details of over 20,000 officers so far.
On his part, the Cabinet Secretary for ICT, Joe Mucheru, committed full support towards the
Government’s drive to digitize various administrative procedures within the Service, the Occurrence Book, and the Crime Management System to streamline service delivery.
The Inspector General of Police, Joseph Boinnet, called upon the new commanders to marshal the officers under them to turn the Government’s reforms agenda within the Service into practical realities.
Boinnet also urged them to support National Government Administration Officers (NGAOs) to implement the Executive Order issued by President Kenyatta last week.
