The National Police Service Commission chairperson, Eliud Kinuthia, has revealed that the government intends to recruit over 25,000 police officers for five years.
While appearing before the Parliamentary Committee on Administration and Internal Security to defend supplementary estimates on Wednesday, Kinuthia however, noted that insufficient funds in the police service might hinder the process of recruitment that is aimed at creating more employment opportunities.
This will mean that in the next five years, the government will annually recruit 5,000 police officers if the numbers stated will be something to go by.
"During the presentation, the chair revealed that the Commission intends to recruit over 25,000 police officers for five years adding that inadequate funds have hindered the recruitment process for the last two years," read part of a series of tweets by the National Police Service Commission.
In their submissions and presentation, the Commission led by the Chair, called on the Committee to reconsider its budget cut move to enable the Commission to execute its mandate efficiently.
According to the Commission, at the time, over 10,000 police officers had left the service through natural attrition, deployment, and retirement.
The Parliamentary Committee Chair Gabriel Togoyo underscored the critical role played by the security sector in the Country pledging to review the budget even as the Government undertakes austerity measures.
The meeting was attended by commissioners, stakeholders, and other senior management teams in the National Police Service Commission.
From the Supplementary budget, National Security was allocated a total of Sh377.5 billion.
Of these, Defence was allocated Sh173 billion, National Police Service Sh110.6 billion, National Intelligence Service Sh46.3 billion, and Kenya Prisons Sh32.7 billion.
Further, Sh13.9 billion was allocated for leasing police vehicles and Sh918.4 million for developing the National Forensic Laboratory.
This comes even as the public decries recent cases of abductions, accusing the police officer of using excessive force during anti-government protests.
Human Rights Organizations and lobby groups have on several instances condemned the conduct of the police during the anti-government protest saying the law enforcers took sides and applied excessive force.
