Inspector General of Police Hillary Mutyambai has given Nairobi Regional Police Commander Rashid Yakub more powers in new changes made on March 8, 2021.
According to official communication from the Ministry of Interior, Rashid has been promoted to the rank of Senior Assistant Inspector General of police (SAIG).
As a regional commander, he was in charge of Nairobi, having served in the Coast and Western regions.
As SAIG he may be deployed as the principal assistant to the Deputy Inspector General of Police or Commandant of either the General Service Unit or Kenya Police College.
Specific duties and responsibilities will entail taking command of the service in the absence of the Deputy Inspector General of the Kenya Police Service.
Yakub will be advising the Deputy Inspector General of Police on policing matters as well as overseeing the preparation of budgetary estimates.
Other roles include managing performance contracts and appraisal reports, promoting culture change and capacity building in the service.
The Nairobi police boss has made headlines due to his efforts in showing the humanitarian side of the police service.
Recently during the burial of the late Garissa Senator Yusuf Haji, he warmed the hearts of many when he personally dug the deceased’s grave.
A video taken at the scene showed him at work, dressed in his official police uniform digging the grave. The clip was shared multiple times on social media, earning him praise.
Another of his most notable acts was in 2020, when he was moved by a woman and her two children who had made the most pitiful effort to protect themselves against the Covid-19 virus.
The family had repurposed plastic bottles into facemasks. Touched by the plight of the three who stood out in the most unenviable way, the commander bought new facemasks for each of them and personally showed them how to wear them.