President Uhuru Kenyatta’s order today for the immediate recruitment of 10,000 police officers to boost security in the country is raising eyebrows in political circles. The recruits are expected to graduate in February next year, just five months to the elections in August.
The President spoke at the General Service Unit Training School in Embakasi where 1,976 officers graduated and were inducted into the National Police Service. “I have already given instructions that the process of recruiting another 10,000 officers should begin immediately so that by February of next year we should be graduating them, which for the first time in our history we will ensure that Kenya has met the United Nations requirement in terms of number of police officers to the population,” he said.
The UN requires that there should be one police officer for every 400 citizens for a country to be policed effectively. Some 3,971 new officers joined Administration Police and an additional 3,933 others were inducted into the Kenya Police last month.
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But political analyts are reading more into it, figuring they could be used against opposition during the campaigns and election time. The President told the police that the government would continue to provide better equipment to ensure they do their work effectively. “My administration continues to work diligently to ensure that you are effectively equipped to carry out your mandate, and to protect you, even as you protect Kenyans,” he added.
President Kenyatta promised that a hospital would be built to cater for police officers and their families. “The Ministry of Interior has been hard at work commissioning the construction of new houses for our police service. They have already developed over 2,000 units and rented many more. This year we expect to increase the number of houses further,” he said. (Additional reporting from Daily Nation)
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