The unending search for ideal police uniform to 'mend' image

Apart from the BEAP with a personnel of about 5,000, there existed several other units, among them home guards that were un-coordinated.

As the railway line stretched to the interior parts of the country and demand for security grew, there was need for intensive re-organisation and creation of a more effectual co-ordination of these diverse police units.

Most of the Africans who were conscripted or recruited to serve as police officers were known as Askaris and served alongside the Britons and Indians.

For many years, the Askaris never wore shoes; a preserve for British and Indian officers. They started putting on shoes as Kenya transitioned from a colony to an independent State.

The uniform was not complete without a black belt, head cap that was commonly known as Turbush and socks referred to as Putees.

"The shoes were black leather, although the first trainees at Police Depot, which was based near Mathare, were training bare-footed. My big elder brother was there (Depot) in 1948. As a constable, I wore the khaki uniform. I bet most present retirees never saw those uniforms," says Alfred Otieno Osur, secretary general of National Association of Retired Police Officers of Kenya (NARPOK).

For the period they served, home guards wore shorts and long-sleeved shirts made from ordinary cloth material. The confusion in uniform called for immediate action. In February, 1902, C.G.D. Farquhar, the Superintendent of Railway Police, was appointed as first Inspector General of BEAP and charged with the task of reorganising the police.

He was mandated to have control over the various police units. However, the officer served only for two months before returning to his former appointment in the Punjab police.

Hulme-Henderson, an assistant collector, was appointed as acting Inspector General. Unfortunately, the man had little police experience prompting the appointment in December 1902 of Captain J. H. C. McCaskill who was serving in the Queen Victoria's Own Corps of Guides of India.

Police march in their new uniform during the launch at the Kenya School of Government in Nairobi on September 13, 2018. [File, Standard]

The population of the National Police Service (NPS) is slightly above 100,000 at the moment. Assuming 80,000 officers are issued with two pairs of working uniforms and ceremonial costumes each year, it costs the government about Sh5.2 billion to dress them.

When the cost of boots for junior officers is added, the expenditure rises. The boots are purchased by the government and delivered to the Force Quarter Master who distributes them. The price of a pair of police boots ranges from Sh1,800 to Sh2,500.

It remains to be seen whether the latest drive to change the uniform will translate to improved efficiency at a time when junior officers are grumbling over low pay, with those injured while in the line of duty expressing frustrations for not being paid their compensation claims.

NPS has concluded seeking views from the public and the police over the proposed change of uniform. The proposed uniform has the same colour that was phased out five years ago.

Director of Logistics Peter Ndungu, who spearheaded the collection of views, was reluctant to shed light on the next course of action saying: "We did complete the public participation exercise, I won't comment further. You better seek information from the communications office; that is our procedure."

The proposed uniform options are a short-sleeved shirt with ordinary buttons, another with tucked-in styling, and the third with unique buttons. For long-sleeved choices, officers will choose between ordinary and unique buttons, but both having tucked-in styling.