Governor to Unveil County Police

Nyandarua Governor Francis Kimemia has unveiled a plan to operationalize the County Policing Authority in his county.

Kimemia stated that he would begin by bringing together all stakeholders to demystify the authority, amidst opposition from some quarters over fears that the authority would take over duties of the Police service.

Kimemia stated: “My county will be the model policing authority. The Nyumba Kumi initiative cannot resolve some issues that affect the people. The authority is also not about law and order.” 

He noted that security issues in sectors such as education, health, water and infrastructure would be handled by the authority.

The operations of the County Policing Authority were gazetted in 2015 under the National Police Sevice Act, but there has reportedly been stiff resistance from senior figures in the Police who are concerned that intelligence briefs may be unnecessarily shared.

[caption caption="President Uhuru Kenyatta in a meeting at State House with Governors and security officials in August 2016"][/caption]

Kimemia moved to calm these fears, explaining that the role of the authority was clearly defined in the law and would be adhered to.

“I understand the law and I will ensure it is well managed. I will bring on board MCAs, MPs, religious leaders and the private sector.

“There is a difference in chairing intelligence meeting; this is not within our purview. Governors can also not chair these meetings because if they are suspects in some crime, it would be very difficult to prosecute,” Kimemia explained.

President Uhuru Kenyatta in August 2016 met the Council of Governors, then led by Peter Munya, after which they announced that they had activated the authority to manage security in the counties.

However, nothing has been witnessed on that front since the announcement.

Six out of 13 members of the authority will be appointed by the Governor, with representatives from the National Intelligence Service (NIS) and the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) also present.

[caption caption="Inspector-General of Police Joseph Boinnnet"][/caption]

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