The position of Inspector General was introduced in Kenya through the 2010 Constitution to head the National Police Service - NPS.
The office bearer is the highest-ranked officer in the Service, responsible for the overall and independent command of the Service.
Since the position was introduced, Kenya has had three IGs, with Mathew Iteere being the last Police Commissioner.
Kenyans.co.ke looks at what these men who previously wielded massive power are up to.
1. David Kimaiyo
David Kimaiyo was Kenya's first Inspector General of Police.
He was the first Kenyan head of police whose appointment was approved by parliament
Kimaiyo served as the Commander Presidential Escort Unit (PEU) before taking up the position of Commandant General Service Unit (GSU) in 2002.
He subsequently worked for one year as coordinator of the Kenya National Focal Point on Small Arms and Light Weapons before taking up the role of Director of Operations of the Kenya Police until 2008.
Prior to his appointment as Inspector General in 2012, he was the Head of the Kenya National Focal Point on Small Arms and Light Weapons.
Kimaiyo who hails from Elegyo Marakwet had the ambition to join politics after he left the public service. He at one point stated that he intends to run for Presidency in 2022. However, he decided to vie for the Senate seat but was defeated during primaries by incumbent Senator Kipchumba Murkomen.
2. Joseph Boinnet
Prior to his appointment on December 31, 2014, Joseph Boinnet served in the Kenyan National Intelligence Service.
He served as the country's top cop until March 2019. Upon leaving the service, the then President Uhuru Kenyatta appointed Boinnet as Cabinet Administrative Secretary for Tourism.
He resigned from the position in the run-up to the 2022 polls after venturing into elective politics in compliance with the law.
However, during the 2022 General elections, the former Inspector General was handed a humiliating defeat in the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) primaries in Elgeyo-Marakwet County by Wesley Rotich who later became the governor.
3. Hillary Nzioki Mutyambai M.G.H. nsc (AU)
Hilary Mutyambai served as the 3rd Inspector General of the National Police Service and a Commissioner of the National Police Service Commission for a period of 4 years.
Prior to his appointment as the Inspector General of Police in March 2019, he was the Director in charge of Counter –Terrorism in the National Intelligence Service.
He holds a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Nairobi and a Master of Arts degree in National Security Policy from the Australian National University.
He has special training in counter-terrorism and advanced security from the US, Operational Management in the United Kingdom and Policing, and Intelligence and Counter Terrorism from Israel.
He joined the Police Service in 1991 and rose through the ranks to become Superintendent of Police and later joined the Directorate of Security Intelligence in 1998.
He also served as Coast Regional NIS boss and a political attaché at the Kenya High Commission in Kampala Uganda from 2000 to 2004.
Mutyambai proceeded on medical leave on August 26, 2022, after spending a few days in hospital. He appointed his deputy Noor Gabow as the acting Inspector General of Police, who has since been designated by the Commission.
However, Mutyambai resigned from his position after he asked the President William Ruto to proceed on terminal leave on health grounds. His term was to end in March 2023.
4. Rt. Major General Mohamed Hussein Ali
Hussein Ali is a former Kenyan military commander and a former commissioner of the Kenya Police.
Prior to being appointed to the position of commissioner of the Kenya Police in 2004 by the late president Mwai Kibaki, he was holding the rank of brigadier in the Kenyan Army.
After he assumed office he disbanded the then-feared Kenya police Reserve and then authorised a mass clear-out of top police bosses.
In 2007 prior to the General election, Ali launched a crackdown on the notorious Mungiki group that killed innocent Kenyans prompting police officers to use excessive force.
He face heavy criticism from human rights groups, especially over the deaths of hundreds of youths linked to the outlawed sect.
Hussein Ali was later caught in the post-election mix of 2007/8 after police were accused of using excessive force.
According to a report by Human Rights Watch investigating post-election violence, gunshot wounds most likely from police guns were the biggest single cause of death among the fatalities.
On 15 December 2010, Ali was named in a summons by the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Luis Moreno-Ocampo, in relation to the events that ensued after the 2007 General election.
The ICC prosecution alleged that Ali authorised the use of excessive force and facilitated attacks against supporters of the opposition Orange Democratic Movement during the post-election violence.
However, the ICC pre-trial Chamber II ruled that there was not enough evidence against Mr Ali to sustain the charges at the Criminal Court.
On 8 September 2009, Ali was transferred from his position as Police Commissioner to the chief executive of the Postal cooperation of Kenya.
However, he finally hung up his boots in 2012 after four decades in the civil service.
5. Matthew Iteere
Mathew Iteere was appointed into office in late 2009, taking over from Rt. Major General Hussein Ali
Prior to his appointment as the Police commissioner, Iteere had been the commandant of the General Service Unit - GSU for less than two years.
Iteere took office at a time when the country was still healing from the wounds of post-2007/2008 election violence, which claimed the lives of over a thousand people.
Prior to his appointment Iteere, was the head of the KPS' elite paramilitary General Services Unit.
The former police commissioner who trained as a commando in Israel served until 2012 when he was succeeded by David Kimaiyo.
