Kenya in major police reforms

President Uhuru Kenyatta Thursday announced radical changes in the police force that he said should grant Kenya “a new service”.

The reforms deal with command, uniform, housing and training in the Administration Police (AP), Kenya Police and the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI).

The changes include integration of functions, rebranding, renaming and scrapping of some positions.

Here is a breakdown of the changes Mr Kenyatta announced at the Kenya School of Government in Nairobi:

• 12 senior police positions scrapped; they are Kenya Police, AP and DCI regional commanders, county commanders and sub-county commanders, Officer Commanding Police Division (OCPD), district AP commander and AP ward commander.

• These positions will be replaced by integrated Police Geo Boundaries and placed under unified commands, namely regional police command, one county police command, and one sub-county police command.

• Rebranding and renaming of the different police training colleges, with Kenya Police Training College being renamed the Kenya Police College Kiganjo Campus; AP Training College renamed National Police Collage Embakasi A Campus as GSU Training College becomes National Police College Embakasi B Campus.

• Deputy Inspector-General in charge of the Kenya Police to focus on public safety and security.

• Deputy Inspector-General in charge of Administration Police to deal with protective and border security.

• To eliminate waste, 39,680 Kenya Police officers and 24,572 Administration Police officers to be put under the General Police Service and will work under the command of the Deputy Inspector-General in charge of the Kenya Police.

• All police officers to undergo refresher training to help them better understand the new structure and functions.

• Scaling up security of Government Buildings Unit, which has been under the AP service, from 4,773 to 8,280 officers and increase Anti-Stock Theft Unit officers to 5,000. All these officers will take commands from the Deputy Inspector-General in charge of the Administration Police.

• Junior officers to lose free housing in 90 days. They will have to vacate houses in police lines and start receiving a house allowance.

• New uniform unveiled. It consists of Persian-blue shirt / blouse, Persian-blue pair of trousers and a beret with the same colour. Mr Kenyatta said the change from Navy blue and jungle green colours was to make police "more visible". "Inspector-General Joseph Boinnet should implement this changes with immediate effect. The Treasury should also operationalise financial provisions with immediate effect," he said.

• The regular police, DCI and APs housed in the same facilities will be under a single command. A majority of the AP officers will be absorbed into the Kenya Police Service while others will be absorbed in Anti-Stock Theft Unit (ASTU). The few that will remain will have their duties redefined.

• AP camps and chief’s camps where a majority of the APs are stationed will be gazetted as police stations. The regular police, DCI and APs housed in the same facilities will be under a single command.