Principal Secretary for the Ministry of Interior and National Administration Raymond Omollo has announced that the government will be appealing the High Court ruling that declared the Police Reforms Taskforce, chaired by former Chief Justice David Maraga, unconstitutional.
The Maraga Task Force proposed over 500 police reforms, focusing on improving welfare, salaries, housing, and training and modernising security operations, but was declared unconstitutional.
While maintaining that they respect the ruling, Omollo revealed that they will be seeking an appeal since they have streamlined some of the recommendations that had been issued by the court.
According to Omollo, the court's decision primarily focused on the role of the National Police Service Commission and challenged only 16 out of a total of 271 recommendations made by the Maraga task force.
The PS revealed that they would seek judicial redress while continuing to implement the 255 recommendations that were not affected by the verdict.
''We respect the decision of the court, more so insofar as those 16 recommendations are concerned. We will be pursuing redress through the court process to address those 16 recommendations," Omollo revealed.
''What this means is that, out of the 571 recommendations, the rest of the other recommendations we will continue with their implementation,'' Omollo stressed.
The PS argued that it was imperative to continue with the implementation of the reforms since 50 per cent of the recommendations had already been implemented, with the ministry continuing with the rollout process for the other 20-30 per cent.
Omollo was speaking in Nairobi while presenting a report card on the reforms during a breakfast meeting with members of the National Steering Committee – the apex organ spearheading the implementation of the proposed changes.
The PS maintained that the reforms were important since they were not just about systems and structures but about restoring trust, dignity, and professionalism in the security institutions.
Meanwhile, the PS maintained that the recruitment for cadets by the Kenyan Prisons Service will be conducted by the end of the month as previously scheduled.
The exercise had been put on hold after activist Fredrick Bikeri filed a petition against it, challenging its directive requiring graduate officers to hold a master's degree as a prerequisite for promotion to the rank of Inspector of Prisons.
The petitioner argued that the directive was unfair, lacked proper justification, and was introduced without consultation or public participation.
