Interior Cabinet Secretary Prof. Kithure Kindiki Friday August 23 appointed a technical committee to review and develop policy reforms for the National Police Service (NPS), Kenya Prisons Service and National Youth Service (NYS).
This is over a report by former Chief Justice David Maraga led-taskforce on reviewing the operations within the NPS, NYS and Kenya Prisons Service to improve the state of affairs.
The committee comprises 13 members and seven joint secretaries.
State counsel in the Attorney General’s office Kepha Onyiso was appointed as Chairperson of the committee and will be deputised by Musita Anyangu.
Charles Otieno will act as the technical advisor.
Five officials of the Attorney General’s office were also included in the committee and include Marion Muriithi, Seth Masese, Seko Brenda, Olivia Simiyu and Buhere Jay Sikuku.
Other members include Kenya Law Reform Commission’s James Nombi and Susan Kamau and Maurice Okoth, as well as Rogers Marindi and Dickson Magotsi from the Internal Security department.
The joint secretaries include Peter Karanjah (Internal Security), Charles Ismael Otieno (NPS), Judith Chebet (NPSC), Festus Kinoti (Independent Policing Oversight Authority), William Kailo (government chemist), Nicolas Makokha (NYS) and Humphrey Young (State Department for Correctional Services).
The committee shall perform five key functions which include to analyse policy reforms as proposed in the Report of the National Taskforce on Improvement of the Terms and Conditions of Service, analyse reforms from other reports, review and provide legal advice, draft bills and draft policy proposals.
It will also be required to hold meetings to discuss progress of the functions and create sub-committees to efficiently deliver its mandate.
The Technical Working Group shall prepare and submit to the Cabinet Secretary within nine months.
At the CS’s discretion, he may extend the committee’s duration until the work is completed.
On the other hand, the Committee’s Secretariat will be facilitating consultations with their respective agencies and the committee.
The secretariat will develop and implement the Committee’s activities and prepare reports detailing the outcome.
The Terms of Reference of these technical committees include proposing amendments to key laws and policies governing the security sector.
These are the National Police Service (Amendment) Bill, the National Police Service Commission (Amendment) Bill, and the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (Amendment) Bill.
Additionally, the National Correctional Services Policy and the Kenya Correctional Services Bill are currently open for public participation.
In line with the reforms, the policing technical working group is also developing the National Forensic Laboratory Bill as well as reviewing the police training policy, curriculum, human resource, career progression guidelines and police welfare management frameworks.
The government needs a staggering Sh108 billion to implement the far-reaching reforms.
The report identified specific issues such as political interference in the National Police Service (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 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.
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