Gov’t needs Ksh.2B for police reforms, recruitment not linked to 2027 elections - PS Omollo

Interior Principal Secretary Dr. Raymond Omollo has revealed that the government is seeking approximately Ksh.2 billion to facilitate ongoing reforms within the National Police Service (NPS).

Speaking during an interview on Citizen TV on Tuesday evening, Dr. Omollo said the reforms are aimed at addressing years of neglect in the security sector, particularly in the welfare and working conditions of police officers.

“Whenever there’s a criminal act, the first question is where are the police? Over the years police have suffered neglect in terms of investment in their space and what President Ruto did is to correct the ills that have been in the security sector,” Dr. Omollo stated. 

The PS noted that one of the major reforms undertaken by the government has been the implementation of salary increments for officers, especially those in junior ranks.

“Most significantly was the pay for the police officers, particularly those in the junior ranks. Out of the recommendations, there was to be an increment of between 4-40% depending on the rank. What we have done is that those changes were to be done in three years. We have implemented what was needed in the first two years,” he said.

Dr. Omollo added that Parliament had already facilitated funding for the first two phases of the salary review, while budgetary provisions had also been made for the final phase in the 2026/27 financial year.

“We have been able to engage Parliament and they have availed the budget. I’ve talked about two phases of the salary increment which we have already effected. We have also provisioned budget for the last phase which is around Ksh.300 million in the FY 2026/27. On this I must appreciate Parliament for having facilitated this,” he stated.

“Cumulatively, we’re looking at a budget of around Ksh.2 billion.”

The Interior PS further revealed that the government is also investing heavily in police housing to improve officers’ welfare.

“We have about 5,000 housing units with another 23,000 in the pipeline to address the challenge of housing for our officers,” he remarked.

At the same time, PS Omollo defended the ongoing recruitment of police officers, dismissing claims that the exercise is politically motivated ahead of the 2027 General Election.

According to the PS, Kenya has historically fallen below the internationally recommended police-to-citizen ratio of one officer for every 400 citizens.

“Internationally, we have the recommendation of one officer to 400 citizens. When we came in, the ratio was 1:500. So there’s been a need for us to bridge that gap and that necessitated us to recruit the numbers we did last year, around 10,000 officers,” he said.

“Over time, there’s the issue of attrition. This is not about next year’s elections, it’s about service to mwananchi.”

PS Omollo also said the government is implementing regular transfers within the police service to boost morale and improve service delivery.

“No officer should be in one particular station for three years. That is also part of improving the morale,” he stated.