Transfer of 42,500 police officers who have served at a station for more than three years will be complete by Wednesday next week.
Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki the decision to carry out the massive countrywide transfers was adopted as part of the police reforms presented to President William Ruto by the Police Reforms Task Force.
According to Kindiki, the policy seeks to rotate officers who have served in one station longer than required.
Further, it seeks to be beneficial to officers who are currently in hardship areas and have served in those stations for a long period of time without a transfer.
Speaking when he held a meeting with Nakuru County Security and Intelligence committee Kindiki explained that the move seeks to eliminate conflict of interest, guard against internal sabotage, and enhance service delivery in the security sector.
“We have talked about this issue of the three-year transfer policy for too long and I just wanted to communicate that all the officers from all the agencies who have served in one station for three years and above will be transferred by Wednesday morning across Kenya,” he stated.
Kindiki pointed out that the government had directed the Inspector General of Police Japhet Koome and all those responsible to comply with the directive without fail.
The CS who was flanked by County Commissioner Lyford Kibaara and County Police Commander Samuel Ndanyi went on to explain that some junior officers had overstayed in one police station for more than 10 years.
Kindiki explained that the officers in question have local interests and have even ventured into business there in the local area, they are part of the local community blaming them partly for the challenges affecting the country.
“They[officers] are the ones who have entered into the unholy alliance with some of the people who are destroying the country and they are the ones who even arrange protection fees,” he added.
Moreover, Kindiki raised issues of insubordination among some officers who had overstayed, noting their defiance towards superiors and a sense of entitlement based on their lengthy tenure at the station.
The Cabinet Secretary maintained that the government will not yield in its fight against illicit brews.
He affirmed the State’s commitment to weed out the sale of illicit brew, which he said has been eroding the social fabric of many societies. “We are almost losing an entire generation. Nobody will be allowed to sell poison in the name of alcohol to our young people,” he warned.
Mr Kindiki said law enforcement agents had received countless threats from beneficiaries of the illicit trade, but maintained that the devotion by state to protecting the Kenyan youth was more important than blackmail.
“There is no pride in leading a drunken nation, people with broken families,” he stated.
“We want to lead productive, decent people and we are not fighting anyone. We just want to stop the sale of illicit brew.”
Last week, the government announced far-reaching measures aimed at eradicating the sale and production of illicit brews, drugs and substance abuse.
Among a raft of rules, the government suspended all second-generation alcohol and alcoholic beverage distillers and manufacturers issued by the Kenya Revenue Authority and Kenya Bureau of Standards and likewise announced a 21-day window for the fresh vetting of all valid licenses.
Mr Kindiki said war on banditry in the restive North-Rift and organised criminal gangs in major urban centers in the country has been contained by 70 percent.
Dennis Rasto
