Officers from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) and the General Service Unit (GSU) are among those affected by the budget cuts introduced by the government.
In the Supplementary Budget for the financial year 2024/25, the National Police Service (NPS) revised the number of houses to be constructed for the DCI detectives and GSU officers.
"The Approved Estimates have been revised from Ksh110.5 billion to Ksh107.8 billion under the FY 2024/25 Supplementary Estimates No. 1, reflecting a decrease of Ksh2.7 billion on account of rationalization of expenditures," read part of the budget.
According to the budget, the government announced that the number of police stations and houses constructed in the new financial year was reduced by 100 %.
On the other hand, the number of police stations and housing constructed for the GSU was also reduced by 100%.
Additionally, the same shall apply in the construction of houses and police stations for officers under the Kenya Police.
The implementation of these budget cuts will result in some officers missing houses of others living in poor conditions. The cuts are part of the government's austerity measures to ensure the country lives within its means.
President William Ruto proposed the slashing of the budget after heated protests which led to the withdrawal of the Finance Bill, 2024.
Ruto in the past few weeks scrapped the offices of the First Lady, Spouse of the Deputy President and the Prime Cabinet Secretary's spouse. He also dismissed all CSs and suspended unnecessary travel.
"No State officer or public servant shall participate in harambees going forward. I believe these changes will set our country on a trajectory towards economic transformation," he remarked on July 5.
Meanwhile, besides the changes in the constructions of the housing facilities and police stations, the NPS would increase the response time of the Rapid Deployment Unit (RDU) from an estimated 35 minutes to 100 minutes (1 hour 40 minutes).
It would also reduce the number of police officers trained in the financial year at the Kenya Police Colleges in Kiganjo from 6,873 to 5,500. At Kenya Police Regional Training Centre the number of trainees shall reduce from 600 to 480.
Furthermore, the number of officers trained at the NPS College in Embakasi A Campus shall be reduced from 6,000 to 4,800. At the Senior Staff Training College in Emali the number the government is planning to train only 320 senior officers down from 400.
Under the DCI, the number of officers trained in basic investigations will be reduced from 600 to 480 while those trained in specialised investigations will be reduced from 400 to 320.
Conclusively, under the GSU the target for officers retrained will be reduced from 3,000 to 2,400. These are among the budget cuts among others set to affect a majority of Kenyans.
