- Officials aware of the plans said the President had confirmed to meet them amid concerns about rising crime.
- The plans to meet Ruto started Tuesday when the group convened to deliberate on the security situation in Nairobi.
Top police commanders will Wednesday meet President William Ruto to share their challenges.
It will be the first time Ruto will meet the team since he was elected President.
Officials aware of the plans said the President had confirmed to meet them amid concerns about rising crime activities.
They want more resources and politicians to stop bashing their operations, which has demeaned them in public.
The plans to meet Ruto started Tuesday when the group convened to deliberate on the security situation in Nairobi and to plan for a rapid response to the crime in the city and other parts of the country.
The regional, county police commanders and their DCI counterparts at the Administration Police Training College meeting in Embakasi, was convened by Inspector General Japhet Koome and addressed by Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki.
Even though Kindiki dismissed claims of a go-slow by the police that is allegedly encouraging a resurgence in muggings, violent robberies and other gang activities, some officers revealed there is a bigger problem which has triggered the situation.
“The officers are not working. They are waiting to hear what the President says,” an officer aware of the situation said.
On Tuesday, a Cabinet meeting noted that from an overall perspective, the state of national security is sound, even though parts of the country had over the last week experienced a surge in crime.
The crime particularly in Nairobi is characterised by increased muggings and robberies and in the North where perennial banditry and cattle rustling activities continue.
In response to the security concern, the Cabinet sanctioned upscaling of security surveillance to deter crime and swift and decisive action to deal with all those perpetrating crimes.
It was noted that the Nairobi County Security command had been reorganised and further augmented with the deployment of additional specialised police units drawn from the General Service Unit and the Rapid Deployment Unit.
Cabinet applauded security officers who continue to make immense personal sacrifices to keep the nation and its borders safe.
The organ also approved the reinstatement of the multi-agency coordination between security organs and operators at all points of entry into the country as a heightened measure to detect and prevent trafficking in narcotics and other psychotropic substances.
Kindiki said police will prioritise the enforcement of public safety in Nairobi and other towns.
A comprehensive review of the officers’ salaries and other allowances and the general welfare will also be undertaken urgently in a process that will involve stakeholders including the public.
“The review includes everything about policing, their equipment, their salaries, their housing, their mortgages, and their health care,” Kindiki said.
“The whole idea is to adjust it to the cost of living, but also to make it at least as near at par as possible with the other coders who have equal standing within the public sector.”
He said the government was keen to promote an apolitical police force saying officers will not be coerced into taking political sides or performing extraneous duties outside their code of conduct.
“We want our police officers to concentrate on maintaining law and order. We intend to make the police a professional service so that it can serve the people of Kenya irrespective of their political persuasions. And we will leave politics to politicians,” the CS said.
The meeting was also attended by deputy Inspector General Noor Gabow and Edward Mbugua, DCI boss Amin Mohamed and the NPS principal administrative secretary Bernice Sialaal Lemedeket who is also the accounting officer.
The CS hailed the appointment of the Lemedeket as a confirmation of the government's intention to respect and uphold the financial and operational independence of the police in line with Ruto’s election pledge.
On the ongoing operations against bandits in the North Rift and criminal gangs in Nairobi and other major areas across the country, Kindiki said the government was keen on enforcing law and order.
“Kenyans can go about their businesses. Nairobi will remain safe, not in the short term, but in the long term, because our security forces are doing everything possible to ensure citizens are free to conduct their businesses without fearing to lose their lives or their property,” he said.
To address resource-based conflicts in parts of the country due to drought as another security threat, the CS said the government will launch a drive for peaceful coexistence and amicable resource-sharing between migratory groups.