Top police commanders will meet with president William Ruto Wednesday November 16 to tell him their challenges.
It will be the first time as the president Ruto will meet the team at State House since he was elected as president.
Officials aware of the plans said the president had confirmed to meet them amid concerns of rising crime in parts of the country.
They want more resources and politicians to stop bashing their operations, which has demeaned them in public.
The plans to meet Ruto started Tuesday when the group convened to deliberate on the security situation in Nairobi and to plan for a rapid response to the crime in the city and other parts of the country.
The meeting of regional and county police commanders and their DCI counterparts at the Administration Police Training College in Embakasi was convened by the new Inspector General Japhet Koome and addressed by Interior Cabinet Secretary Prof Kithure Kindiki.
Even though Kindiki dismissed claims of a go-slow by the police that is allegedly encouraging a resurgence in muggings, violent robberies and other gang activities in Nairobi and other major towns in the country some officers revealed there is a bigger problem which has triggered the situation.
“The officers are not working. They are waiting to hear what the president says. He has been criticizing the same people charged with fighting crime,” said an officer aware of the situation.
The continued bashing of some operations is said to have triggered the silent go-slow hence the rise in crime.
On Tuesday, a Cabinet meeting noted that from an overall perspective, the state of national security is sound, even though parts of the country had over the last week experienced a surge in crime particularly in Nairobi as characterized by increased muggings and robberies and in the north where perennial banditry and cattle rustling activities continue.
And in response to the security concern, the cabinet sanctioned upscaling of security surveillance to deter crime and sanctioned swift and decisive action to deal with all those perpetrating crimes.
“It was noted that the Nairobi County Security command had been reorganized and further augmented with deployment of additional specialized police units drawn from the General Service Unit and the Rapid Deployment Unit (RDU).”
Cabinet applauded security officers who continue to make immense personal sacrifices to keep our nation and its borders safe.
The organ also approved the reinstatement of the multi-agency co-ordination between security organs and operators at all points of entry into the country as a heightened measure to detect and prevent trafficking in narcotics and other psychotropic substances.
Kindiki said police will prioritise the enforcement of public safety in Nairobi and other towns.
A comprehensive review of the officers’ salaries and other allowances and the general welfare will also be undertaken urgently in a process that will involve stakeholders including the public.
“The review includes everything about policing, their equipment, their salaries, their housing, their mortgages, and their health care.”
“The whole idea is to adjust it to the cost of living, but also to make it at least as near at par as possible with the other caders who have an equal standing within the public sector,” he said.
He reiterated that the government was keen to promote an apolitical police force saying officers will not be coerced into taking political sides or perform extraneous duties outside their code of conduct.
“We want our police officers to concentrate on maintaining law and order. Our intention is to make the police a professional service so that it can serve the people of Kenya irrespective of their political persuasions. And we will leave politics to politicians.”
The meeting was also attended by Deputy Inspector General Noor Gabow and Edward Mbugua, DCI boss Amin Mohamed and the NPS Principal Administrative Secretary Bernice Sialaal Lemedeket who is also the accounting officer.
The CS hailed the appointment of the Lemedeket as a confirmation of the government intention to respect and uphold the financial and operational independence of the police in line with Ruto’s election pledge.
On the ongoing operations against bandits in the North Rift and criminal gangs in Nairobi and other major across the country, Kindiki said the government was keen on enforcing law and order.
“Kenyans can go about their businesses. Nairobi will remain safe, not in the short term, but in the long term, because our security forces are doing everything possible to ensure citizens are free to conduct their businesses without fearing to lose their lives or their property.”
To address resource-based conflicts in parts of the country due to drought as another security threat, the CS said the government will launch a drive for peaceful coexistence and amicable resource-sharing between migratory groups.