Meet Kenya's new police bosses: Masengeli and Lagat's rise to the top
Mr Gilbert Masengeli during the press conference in Nairobi on Sunday, July 14, 2024.
Full details of work experience and profiles of the two Deputy Inspector Generals (DIGs) who were sworn into office on Thursday, July 25, by Chief Justice Martha Koome can now be revealed.
Mr Gilbert Masengeli, was picked as the DIG Administrative Police Service (APS) while Mr Eliud Kipkoech Lagat was picked as the DIG Kenya Police Service (KPS).
Currently, Mr Masengeli is the acting Inspector General of Police as Mr Douglas Kanja, who was nominated to the position, awaits clearance by the National Assembly and the Senate.
By virtue of their new offices, the two automatically joined the National Police Service Commission (NPSC) as commissioners, according to NPSC Chairman Eliud Kinuthia.
On Thursday after the swearing-in, Mr Masengeli and Mr Lagat attended a meeting with President William Ruto and NPSC commissioners.
The other commissioners are Mohamed Amin, the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) boss, Mr Kanja, Dr Alice Otwala (the Vice-chairperson NPSC), John Ole Moyaki, Dr Lilian Kiamba, Mr Edwin Cheluget, Bernice Lemedeket and Peter Leley.
But who are Mr Masengeli and Mr Lagat? And what experience do they bring to the service?
Gilbert Masengeli- DIG APS
Mr Masengeli boasts of a career spanning 35 years within the National Police Service.
According to his curriculum vitae, he is skilled in counterterrorism operations, crisis management, strategic security leadership, fraud examination, combating cross-border crimes, countering violent extremism and explosive incident countermeasures, as well as collaborative intelligence.
“I am one person who believes in teamwork and partnership and this has seen most of the missions that I have participated in succeed,” Mr Masengeli, who joined the NPS in 1989, said.
Before being picked as a DIG APS, Mr Masengeli was the Commandant, National Police College, Embakasi ‘A’ Campus. He had been appointed to the position in July 2024.
Between 2017 and 2024, Mr Masengeli was the Commanding Officer, of Special Operations Group APS, Border Police Unit (BPU).
Here, he was tasked with the provision of leadership, planning and coordination of multi-agency special security operations.
His role also entailed identifying and analyzing insecurity early warning signs, budgeting and disseminating resources for security operations and providing guidance and liaison to special operators (SOG).
It is worth noting that he was promoted to the position of Assistant Inspector General of Police in 2019 and here he was tasked with developing various courses of action for threat mitigation, advising on the deployment of security officers along border points and providing security analysis on the Points of Entries (PoEs).
Other tasks are identifying the threat posture and formulation of a deployment plan and also identification of gaps for Special Operations.
Other ranks Mr Masengeli has held include Commissioner of Police, Senior Superintendent of Police where he was the Company Commander attached to BPU and also the Commander of the North Eastern Region Forward Operating Base.
In education, Mr Masengeli is pursuing a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in International Relations at the United States International University (USIU).
Some of the awards that he has been handed in his career include; Moran of the Order of the Burning Spear (MBS), 2023, Order of the Grand Warrior (OGW) of Kenya, 2016 and Silver Star (SS) of Kenya, 2006.
Eliud Kipkoech Lagat – DIG KPS
Mr Kipchoge has a Master’s Degree in Armed Conflict and Peace Studies from the University of Nairobi and graduated in 2010.
Apart from that he has a Bachelor of Technology Automotive and graduated from the University of Eastern Africa, Baraton.
He joined the NPS in 1998 and trained at the Kenya Police College in Kiganjo.
In 2000, he was an Inspector of police attached to the Bomb Disposal and was based at the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) now Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI)Training School and DCI Headquarters.
Between 2001 to 2005 he was a forensic investigator still attached to DCI Headquarters.
From 2005 to 2007 he was promoted to the Deputy Head Crime Scene Support Unit based at the DCI Headquarters.
Between 2007 and 2015, Mr Kipchoge was the Deputy Head- Bomb and Hazardous materials before he was promoted to head the same unit until 2020.
In 2020, he was named the Deputy Director- DCI Reforms Section and was promoted to head the same unit in 2023.
In October 2022 he was named the Director Investigations Bureau a position he held until April 2023 when he was named the Commandant General Service Unit (GSU).
In July 2024, he was named the acting Deputy Inspector General Kenya Police Service following the promotion of Mr Kanja to the acting Inspector General of Police.
