By Moses Adongo
Attending his first major public function since his return to the country from The Forum on China–Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), President Uhuru Kenyatta has today presented a new police uniform during the unveiling of police reforms at the Kenya School of Government.
The President who recently returned from his latest visit to China said that the new changes will usher in a new and transformative model of policing and services to the people.
The uniform which is blue, is expected to enhance the visibility of police officers. During the launch, the officers marched to the podium showcasing the new uniforms.
At the same event, the President announced a merger of the Kenya Police and the Administrative Police (AP) officers into General Duty Officers (GDO).
The AP officers who have been working in Chief camps, government institutions and even banks under the orders of the AP Commanders, will now execute their duties under the command of Kenya Police commander. They will, however, continue to man government facilities and other critical institutions like before.
President Kenyatta also revealed that police officers will be required to integrate with Kenyans in private tenancies vacating the crowded police units. The government will henceforth provide them with house allowances.
The new changes now wait for the implementation by Inspector General of Police Joseph Boinnet with the financing from the Treasury.
The current police budget stands at about Ksh100 billion and may increase even further with the implementation of these reforms. Funding of this budget has majorly come from taxes collected by the government; however, it has also depended on donor organizations.
The reforms will, therefore, have economic impacts if donor trust is to be considered. Achieving transparency, accountability, and efficiency, as envisaged in the reforms, will, therefore, be a major factor.
Further, the new housing plan will pile more pressure on the government in regards to achieving its housing goal as part of the Big Four Agenda.
This will demand that an enabling environment is created for the private sector so that the required housing units are available to not only ordinary citizens but also now to the men in uniform.
