Murkomen pledges to modernize security operations and training of officers 

Interior and National Administration Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen Thursday lauded the rigorous investigations undertaken by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) which has led to the unraveling of complex cases.

Murkomen, who made his inaugural visit to DCI headquarters, appreciated the complexity of the emerging crime trends, assuring the officers of the government’s commitment to the modernization of its operations.

Speaking to journalists after touring the National Forensic laboratory, Murkomen affirmed the government’s pledge to properly tool the officers with the latest technology and specialized training to be able to unravel complex criminal cases.

“I am happy with the work they have done to professionalise investigations in the country. The directorate is doing a lot of work to keep the country safe. A lot of issues of high crime, terrorism, narcotics among others,” said Murkomen, lauding the teamwork within the National Police Service (NPS).

He also acknowledged there are challenges across the country but assured that everything is being done to guarantee the safety and security of citizens.

He said the laboratory is a strategic facility, one of its own kind in the region, and will aid in the application of science and technology to make sure crimes are detected and criminals are apprehended.

“We are going to leverage on technology to make sure we protect our country and keep our people safe. We have agreed the work of equipping this laboratory must go on in the next budget, we are working with the National Treasury and parliament to make sure the full operationalization of this laboratory is achieved,” said Murkomen.

He disclosed that the NPS is working closely with the universities and colleges to continuously train new experts, adding that discussions are underway with the National Police Service Commission (NPSC) on the retention of experts.

“There is a very huge flight of experts because they feel when they reach a certain rank we are not really compensating them as we should. We should come up with a mechanism of training and retaining experts,” noted the CS.

“We want our areas of emphasis to be training. For so many years we have not put in place enough budgets in terms of training more experts and retraining those that are at work.”

Murkomen promised to work with the National Assembly and National Treasury to upgrade the training facilities at the DCI Academy, so that experts and officials are always ahead of criminals.

Inspector General of Police (IG) Douglas Kanja, DIG (NPS) Eliud Lagat, DCI director Mohamed Ali among senior officials apprised the CS of the achievements and challenges faced as well as collaboration with other agencies.