The Inspector General of Police, Douglas Kanja, has announced the upgrade of 92 establishments, including police posts, to police stations.
In a gazette notice dated October 3, Kanja said that the designation has been made in line with Section 40(1) of the National Police Service Act.
According to the notice, the new stations will be located in various sub-counties, including Bura East, Barindo North, Kiminini, Samburu West, Molo, Njoro, West Pokot, Pokot Central, Nyatike, Seme, and Suba Central, among others.
The new stations include upgrading police posts at Manda Airstrip, Kisumu Airport, Kakamega Airport, Eldoret Airport, and Lokichogio Airstrip to police stations. Others are Muranga Police Station in Sagana Railways Sub-county, Makutano Police Station in West Pokot, Pioneer Police Station in Kapsaret, among others.
Police stations serve as the central base for law enforcement operations within an area, thus providing a point of contact for the public to report criminal incidents.
A police post is designated as a police station by the IG, following specific criteria set by the National Police Service Commission, which involves evaluating community needs, infrastructure readiness, and the proposed station's ability to fulfil its intended functions.
Before their gazettement and being recognised as fully fledged Police Stations, these establishments operated as smaller administrative units such as Police Posts, which don't have the capacity to handle some cases.
Following the gazettment, the new police stations will have the legal capacity to operate and handle matters such as criminal investigations, detentions, and other administrative duties.
The announcement comes a month after Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen said that funds will be set aside in the next supplementary budget to redesign all police stations across the country.
Murkomen said that under the new design, all police stations will be required to house essential facilities, including gender desks, OCS offices, desks for handling child-related incidents, and CCTV surveillance systems, as well as secure armouries.
The CS, who spoke on Thursday, September 4, further said that the government will also prioritise the construction of 300 police stations across the country.
“For all new police stations, the specifications should include ICT equipment so that we have fully functional police stations across the country,” Murkomen stated.
“We do not want a situation where people are constructing their own version of police stations. We are going to sit together with various boards so that when we construct, we construct prosperity—something that is complete.”
