The newly appointed Acting Inspector General (IG) of the National Police Service, Douglas Kanja, has officially assumed leadership.
Kanja, formerly the Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of the Kenya Police Service, steps into this role following the resignation of Japheth Koome as IG.
President William Ruto confirmed Koome’s resignation on Friday.
Koome had been in the position since October 2022, making him the third IG to leave office before completing his term.
NPS Spokesperson Resila Onyango confirmed Kanja’s new role in a statement to the press.
Kanja will be deputized by former Commandant of the General Service Unit, Eliud Lagat, and former Commandant of the National Police College, James Kamau, both in acting capacities.
“During the brief handing/taking over ceremony held at NPS Headquarters this afternoon, the outgoing IG Koome expressed his profound gratitude to the National Police Service Officers for the support they accorded him while he was in office, and added that Kenya is a beautiful country and bigger than all of us,” read the statement.
“The incoming Acting IG Douglas Kanja on his part thanked the former police chief for his strategic leadership and wished him well.”
Koome’s permanent replacement will be nominated by President Ruto and will undergo parliamentary vetting.
Ruto held a series of meetings with key officials before making the announcement, which follows recent pressures from anti-tax protests.
In the security reshuffle, senior prisons officer and newly appointed Commandant of Kenya Prisons College, Patrick Mwiti Arandu, was named the new Commissioner General of Prisons, replacing Warioba who proceeds on terminal leave.
Additionally, Ruto’s head of security, Yiampoi, was moved to police headquarters and named the Director of Operations, while Murang’a Police Boss David Mathiu was appointed Commandant of the National Police Leadership Academy in Ngong.
More changes are anticipated in the coming days.
“His Excellency the President has expressed his gratitude to the outgoing Inspector-General of the National Police Service for the service he has rendered to the nation and has extended his best wishes for success in all his future pursuits,” stated the State House Spokesperson.
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