The deadly 2007/08 post-election violence that left over 1,000 people dead and hundreds of thousands displaced was a blessing in disguise for police reforms in the country, former police spokesperson Charles Owino has claimed.
Speaking in an interview on Citizen TV on Wednesday, December 10, 2025, Owino, now the Director General of the National Council on Correctional Services, argued that the tragic events became an unintended driver for the professionalization of law enforcement in Kenya.
Owino, who was speaking on the evolution of the police force, explained that a 2004 strategic plan had already recommended significant changes, but they had remained unimplemented.
“The police wanted to have one service, under the command of an Inspector General,” Owino stated.
According to Owino, the 2004 plan also sought a dedicated Police Service Commission to manage human resources and a civilian oversight body for accountability.
“They felt that in many cases, when they have incidents such as a police officer being shot, killed, or offended by another officer, then it was not fair for them to investigate themselves,” he noted.
Owino added that the post-election chaos then provided the urgent impetus for these reforms.
He emphasized that the Waki and Kriegler commissions, established following the crisis, made recommendations that significantly influenced the new Constitution and the police service as a whole.
He highlighted that the 2010 Constitution eventually gave birth to the National Police Service (NPS), which merged the Kenya Police and the Administration Police.
It also established the Office of the Inspector General and the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA).
Owino also defended IPOA, stating it was created in the interest of the police.
“IPOA is not an institution against the police, but it is an institution to strengthen the police, and the police are in support,” he said.
