Inspector General of Police Douglas Kanja has formally designated 10 new police stations and police posts across the country.
In a Gazette notice dated October 31, 2024, the Inspector General of the National Police Service announced the designation of police posts and stations from Ugunja Sub-County to Wajir North.
Among the police posts that will undergo designation include the Chaka Police Station located in Kieni East, Nyeri County.
In Kajiado North Sub-County, two other police stations - the NPLA Police Station and the National Police Service Academy, are set for designation as per the National Police Service Act No. 11A of 2011.
The Runogone Police Station in Nyaki East sub-county in Meru as well as the Sidindi Police Station were also designated. The latter's designation came barely three years after Energy Cabinet Secretary Opiyo Wandayi inspected it upon completion of its construction in 2021.
Kaptembwo Police post in Nakuru West is also set for designation, after years of uncertainty due to its volatile location.
The police post has been hampered by a number of factors including flash floods which are a regular occurrence in Nakuru West.
Infrastructural challenges including the lack of a perimeter wall have also been a major challenge for the police post which, at one point, had officers operating from under a tree.
Other designations: In the war-prone Buna area in Wajir County, the Batalu Police post which was renovated with a budget of Ksh2,600,000 is now officially recognised as a designated post where citizens can report crimes.
Still in Wajir, the Qarari Police post, which has reportedly been incomplete for more than a decade, was finally recognized as a designated police post.
This move comes a year after Wajir North MP Ibrahim Saney challenged the Inspector General of Police Japhet Koome to tour his constituency and help complete the stalled station.
"This compound lacks a fence. The police officers themselves, who are the source of security for the public, are insecure. At night, they can be overrun by Al Shabaab and wildlife," the lawmaker stated in July 30, 2023.
Kaaga Police post in Nyaki East and Tulu Roba police post were also designated.
The latest statement from the recently appointed IG Douglas Kanja came just weeks after the former Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki highlighted the infrastructural challenges security agencies in Kenya face.
Kindiki, while appearing before the National Assembly Committee on Administration and Internal Security in September, confirmed that the National Police Service (NPS) was struggling under a deficit of vehicles in police stations, which featured among the biggest issues hampering police from adequately conducting their mandate.
Besides a deficit of police vehicles, Auditor General Nancy Gathungu also noted in January that only 464 of the 3,000 parcels of police land in the country had ownership documents - a predicament that exposes land occupied by police stations to encroachment.
