Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki says the government will transfer all police officers who have served in one station for more than three years.
Speaking during a meeting held on Friday, March 8, the CS said the move, set to start today, will eliminate instances of conflict of interest, guard against internal sabotage, and enhance service delivery in the security sector.
“I just wanted to communicate that all the officers from all the agencies who have served in one station for 3 years and above will be transferred starting this morning across Kenya,” CS Kindiki said.
The Interior CS further told the meeting attended by security committees from Kiambu, Murang’a, Kirinyaga, Nyeri, and Meru, that the government had instructed the Inspector General of police Japhet Koome and all those responsible to comply with the directive without fail.
He questioned why some junior officers had overstayed in one police station for over a decade, and noted that the officers in question have local interests and some have ventured into business within the localities they are stationed at, blaming them partly for the challenges affecting the police service.
“They are the ones who have entered into the unholy alliance with some of the people who are destroying the country and they are the ones who even arrange protection fees,” he noted.
CS Kindiki also pointed out cases of insubordination among officers who had overstayed their work service, citing their defiance towards superiors and a sense of entitlement based on their lengthy tenure at the station.
He warned against complacency, stressing that such behavior could undermine the effectiveness of the security apparatus and vowed to enforce the transfer directive without exceptions.
“They tell their superiors we have been here for 10 years we saw other people they came and went likewise you hang around you will also go and leave us here,” he pointed out.
This comes amid challenges among the police force that have played out in the media. For instance in Kirinyaga County, four police officers are under arrest in connection with the theft and sale of an illicit brew that killed at least 17 people.
The suspects allegedly stole the illicit brew from a store at Kiamaciri Police Station in Mwea West sub-County and sold the exhibit to a local trader.