•The most alarming is the rate at which officers are dying – a large number committing suicide and some being killed in the line of duty.
•The service has in the past three years been losing about 2,000 officers yearly.
Image: NPS
More than 5,000 police graduates are set to be released to service after a nine-month rigorous training at various National Police Service training colleges.
President William Ruto is scheduled to preside over the three-day graduation events of the personnel at National Police College Main Campus at Kiganjo, A and B Campuses respectively starting January 10 to 12.
It will be the first such event for Ruto to preside over since he became the president.
It comes at a time when the service is facing a workforce shortage due to various reasons internally.
Inspector General of Police Japhet Koome has been rehearsing for the event to ensure all plans proceed smoothly.
The new recruits will be required to remain in the service for at least 10 years before leaving.
A Sh1.2 million fine will be imposed on anyone who flouts the new rule.
Officials said the amount would be commensurate with the investment made by the government on a recruit.
The government has spent Sh5.7 billion in training personnel since March 2022.
The service has in the past three years been losing about 2,000 officers yearly.
The majority are resigning, while others are on an increasing trend of retiring.
Some are incapacitated by different work-related hazards, including injuries and diseases.
The most alarming is the rate at which officers are dying – a large number committing suicide and some being killed in the line of duty.
The announcement by former President Uhuru Kenyatta requiring all officers of the age of 58 and above to take early retirement leave has also seen almost 2,000 officers leave their offices and that has hurt service delivery.
There were about 100,000 police officers in 2018, but officials say the number has been depleted because of various reasons by almost 10,000 leaving a huge gap.
This had apparently hampered operations in many departments.
The service has been under pressure to increase the number of police stations in various parts of the country but they have not been able to because of financial constraints.
And when the President announced changes in the service in 2018, it forced some 24,000 APS officers to move to the Kenya Police.
APS is now completely specialised in its core mandate which includes border patrols, guarding critical infrastructure and dealing with stock theft.
Under the new structure, the APS has formed units that include the Special Weapons and Tactics team, Camel Unit, Rapid Deployment Unit, Border Police Unit, APS Stock Theft Prevention Unit and Critical Infrastructure Protection Unit.
This has led to a huge shortage in some units, hence the need for recruitment to fill vacancies.
A team set up by Ruto is set to start meetings to come up with measures to take to reform the service.
He said perennial welfare challenges continue to compromise the efficacy and ability of the police and prisons to effectively deliver on their solemn mandate.
Ruto said his administration has instituted reforms to steer the nation towards an autonomous, accountable, and responsive police and the ongoing reforms build on past efforts aimed at tooling and retooling our security organs, as Kenya seeks to make our security organs more capable of addressing the security challenges that the country faces.
He added the imperative of strengthening the security sector remains a national priority and the primary means of surmounting the emerging and dynamic security challenges the country faces.