President William Ruto Wednesday revealed that the government will require Sh106 billion to implement the reforms within the National Police Service (NPS), Kenya Prisons Service (KPS) and National Youth Service (NYS).
The police reforms were proposed by a taskforce led by former Chief Justice David Maraga.
Ruto made the remarks during the launch of the launch of the Strategic Framework for Implementation of reforms in the services.
The Framework provides an integrated approach to reform priorities in a strategic and coordinated manner to ensure coherence among reform institutions.
From all the police reform initiatives, this is the first that has a Strategic Framework for implementation developed by the relevant institutions.
The National Taskforce on Improvement of the Terms and Conditions of Service and other Reforms for the National Police Service (NPS), Kenya Prisons Service (KPS) and National Youth Service was appointed by Ruto on December 21, 2022.
The Taskforce was chaired by Chief Justice (Emeritus), David Maraga with its terms of reference were to identify the legal, policy, administrative, institutional and operational constraints on effective service delivery and to recommend solutions.
It was also to review the terms and conditions of service for the three Services and recommend their improvement.
The Taskforce undertook its work and presented its final report to Ruto on November 4, 2023.
Pursuant to this, the National Steering Committee chaired by the Principal Secretary, Internal Security and National Administration, Dr. Raymond Omollo was gazetted on September 13, 2024 and tasked to, among other key deliverables, develop an Implementation Framework to guide the reforms process.
Ruto said that the funds will be allocated to address key challenges that faced the services, career progression, digitisation of records including police OBs and purchase of new equipment.
Out of the money, Sh22 billion will finance improvement in compensation package for officers while Sh37 billion will go to the upgrading of the hardware and welfare reforms and Sh45 billion is required to implement modernisation of the services.
Ruto said the National Treasury will provided part of the funds while the rest will be catered for by investors.
“We appreciate the considerable financial implications of the full implementation of the changes prescribed by the Maraga taskforce. It is estimated that it will cost Sh106 billion to full actualise these recommendations,” he said.
Ruto revealed that the government had procured 1,000 e-vehicles for the police officers to enhance e-mobility across the country.
He added that plans were also in place to construct 32,000 houses for the security officers, highlighting how some law enforcement officers often live in deplorable conditions.
“Some of our officers live in houses that are not different from the prisons themselves. That cannot be the case. That’s why we extended the housing program to include institutional houses for our military, police, NYS and prisons,” he remarked.
To implement the reforms within the three services, the president said ministries and agencies will oversee the implementation of the reforms in the coordination with the National Steering Committee that was recently appointed by Interior CS Kithure Kindiki.
He said any challenges encountered must be resolved without delay through the committee and that public participation must be included in developing policies and any form of Constitutional changes.
The three services-NPS, KPS, NYS- will be required to complete their modernisation strategies and plans by three months and treasury is required to ensure funding to implement these reforms, Ruto said.
A national inter-agency team was formed to guide and start the implementation process.
The National Inter-Agency Steering Committee led by the Ministry of Interior and National administration includes senior officials of the Ministry of Public Service, the National Treasury, Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) and the National Police Service Commission (NPSC).
Others include officers drawn from the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA), Public Service Commission (PSC),
National Youth Service (NYS) Council, the Judiciary, the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) among others.
Chaired by Omollo, the committee started its work with the unpacking of at least 200 recommendations contained in the
report.
The committee finalized the guidelines that
informed the implementation of the first phase.
It singled out recommendations that could be implemented through administrative action without requiring funding.
In this phase, service charters of the three services were reviewed and service standards developed.
Staff trainings and sensitizations focusing on the new service standards and far-reaching service delivery reforms have started, PS Dr. Raymond Omollo said.
The PS noted that the implementation of this phase of the reforms are at 65 per cent for NYS, 42 per cent for Kenya Prisons Service and 37 percent at NPS.
The complaints handling processes for the three services have been reviewed in line with the recommendations of the taskforce.
Consultations on the implementation of recommendations that require funding without policy or legislation are at an advanced stage.
One such recommendation is on new basic salary scheme for the police, prisons and NYS officers. The report identified specific issues such as political interference in NPS, corruption in employment and promotions, police training curriculum, an inadequate National Police Service Commission (NPSC), the role of the Cabinet Secretary responsible for National Security and the structure of the Internal Affairs Unit (IAU) in the police. While presenting the report, Maraga called for political goodwill in the implementation of the recommendations saying similar proposals were previously made but never implemented. ”It also became clear that the reform recommendations stand little chance of being implemented if the leadership issues are not addressed,” Maraga said. Prioritizing transparency, professionalism, and community engagement have the potential to not only reshape the police service but also rebuild trust between law enforcement agencies and the people they serve.
The task force noted that a major challenge in evaluating and determining the remuneration of the Services has been the Salaries and Remuneration Commission’s use of inappropriate tools and its lack of recognition that the services’ mandate and nature of work are unique and different from that of mainstream Public Service in terms of decision-making, risks, and disruption of family life, among other factors.
The team recommended the creation of “the Disciplined and Security Services Sector” comprising the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF), National Intelligence Service (NIS), NPS, KPS, and NYS as a separate budget sector.
The team recommended that the basic salary of the members of the three Services be raised by 40 percent at the lowest constable level with a decompression ratio, based on the current salary.
The implementation of the salaries has already started. For non-uniformed members of NPS, given their work environment, the Taskforce recommended a new allowance to improve their terms and conditions of service.
To address complaints of misappropriation, the task force recommended that the payment of all allowances should be automated and promptly made directly into the officers’ bank accounts.
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