Matiang'i: New police uniform is just a money-making scheme for top leaders

According to the presidential hopeful, the top government leaders are using their companies as conduits for supplying the uniforms at exorbitant prices.

He argued that Kenya has the capacity to source labour from national security institutions like the National Youth Service (NYS), the Kenya Police Service (KPS) and other partners to procure uniforms without wasting public resources.

He believes that the proposed Ksh2.8 billion procurement of new Kenya Police General Duty uniforms can be well appropriated to execute other sectors of service delivery.

"Some things are shameful. We have the capacity through the NYS, KPS, and other institutions to make the uniforms and we will be promoting local industries by procuring materials from local producers," he said on Inooro FM.

He further alleged that top leaders are trying to use a company registered in 2024 to supply the uniforms, terming it a loophole to siphon public money.

"When you start hearing that top leaders have created a company in 2024 and it is not supplying uniforms in 2026, you do not need a degree to know what is happening there. It is theft of public money," Matiang'i added.

Likewise, the National Police Service denied reports linking Nalitex Limited to the procurement, saying the company played no role in the tender and was instead awarded to Bedi Investments Limited.

Matiang'i drew a contrast with the uniform change made in 2018 under President Uhuru Kenyatta's regime, saying he had to tussle with leaders who sought personal interests to secure the tender.

He highlighted how a few individuals inflated prices for supplying attire for security units, which were cheaper locally.

"You cannot do business with government because of conflict of interest. We have had so many problems securing tenders while in government. We found someone who was awarded a tender because they were friends with those in power to bring in police boots for Ksh.13,900 per pair. If you look for police boots locally, a pair is about Ksh.4,000," he said.

"Some other time we had a squabble with some people saying that we buy bulletproof vests at $900 (Ksh.116,505). We then went for a G-to-G arrangement, and we saw the price is $90 (Ksh.11,650)."

At the time, he said the government was saving over Ksh.700 million by having the new police uniforms made locally by the NYS.

The Jubilee presidential flagbearer intimated that those cited leaders are in the current administration, now influencing decisions to favour their interests.

"They are now in leadership and are having a field day. As the National Security Council, we agreed that there is no need to outsource the supply of uniforms and we use local institutions," he stated. 

Concerns have been on the rise over the change of police uniforms, as Kenya has witnessed three cycles in just under 9 years.

Former President Uhuru Kenyatta unveiled the all-Persian blue police uniforms in 2018, light blue shirt and navy blue pants in 2023 and now a sky-blue shirt with dark-blue trousers and berets intended for about 60,000 General Duty officers, launched in August 2026.