Reform police force to make it effective

I have written severally that Kenya needs to recruit an Inspector General (IG) of Police internationally and float a sovereign bond to raise the hundreds of billions required to fully reform the Kenya police.

Reforms would include academic qualification, isolation from political class and equipping the officers. This might require the injection of maybe Sh200 billion to Sh300 billion from the floating of a ring-fenced sovereign bond.

The new IG would be recruited on the basis of best reform credentials. So the advertisement for this position would, for example, say that the shortlisted persons applying for this job would be financed to come and study the Kenyan security system for two to three months then give their version of reforms through a tender.

From the latest reports placing the Kenya police as the perpetrators of a quarter of crime incidents in the country, it is cruel to expect the killers of Jacob Juma to be ‘revealed’.

Kenya stands a snowball’s chance in hell of slaying the dragon of corruption with a police force more corrupt than everybody else. It is, however, not in doubt anymore that the current political class prefers this kind of ‘law enforcement agency’ because they can get away with assassinations of both business and political opponents, including whistleblowers.

A time will come when a presidential hopeful will campaign using only this issue and catch the imagination of voters.

The new police force should be capable of arresting top politicians and Cabinet secretaries and to cause DPP to act on their cases without fear or favour.

The new police boss should be capable of arresting governors and MCAs and all other suspects and arraigning them in court using Auditor General reports as hard evidence.