Police reforms to cost Kenya Sh78bn
The government has budgeted KSh78 billion for the implementation of police reforms over the next three years. However there is a financial gap of Sh16.26 billion which it intends to raise from donors.
Internal Security permanent secretary Francis Kimemia said that the Government had allocated Sh61.74 billion and appealed to donors to fund the deficit. He said that the money was to be used in the implementation of the various projects like provision of transport, housing, communication gadgets, and for re-training, capacity building and institutional support programmes for the two police services.
He was speaking during the launch of the Police Reforms Programme Document in Nairobi on Friday. The document was developed by the Police Reform Implementation Committee (PRIC), the National Police Service, and donors like Sweden, the United Kingdom, Japan, the Netherlands, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the UN Women, among other key stakeholders.
Mr Kimemia said thanked the partners for the support already provided to the ongoing effort by the government to transform the police to enhance their professionalism, accountability and their operational capacity to deliver on their mandate.
Community policing
The PS admitted that though community policing was initiated six years ago, there was very little to show regarding its success and effectiveness. “We attach a great deal of importance to community policing but we have not done well in that area,” said Kimemia. He also blamed the Treasury for withholding funds meant for equipping the two services.
Internal Security Minister George Saitoti said that remarkable reform initiatives had been undertaken including the just concluded police recruitment, salary review and welfare reforms, roll out of a new police training curriculum which is currently being implemented by the police training colleges, preparation of training curriculum, and the drafting of five Bills.
“When enacted into law, they will provide a sound legislative framework on which to anchor the on-going reforms,” Saitoti said.
On the legislative reforms, the PRIC has already finalized four Bills which have been submitted to the Committee on the Implementation of Constitution (CIOC). The bills, to be tabled soon in Parliament include the National Police Service Bill 2010, the National Police Service Commission Bill 2010, the Independent Policing Oversight Authority Bill 2010, and the Private Security Industry Regulation Bill 2010.
The Minister also revealed that the report on the transforming the Police Airwing had been completed and forwarded to his ministry. The airwing is important in rapid response and operation in remote areas like in cattle rustling and external aggression.
The chairman of the Police Reform Implementation Committee (PRIC) Titus Naikuni said that his team will ensure that resources go to the right projects. He also appealed to donors to support the training of the 7,000 recruits currently undergoing training in various police training colleges.
“Some recruits train under trees and I would like to make an urgent plea to development partners,” he said. Last month, recruits at the Kenya Police Training College were sharing bed due to inadequate accommodation.
