National Police to recruit 25,000 officers despite budget constraints

The National Police Commission (NPS) plans to recruit at least 25,000 more officers in the next five years. The recruits will replace the officers who have left the service.

Speaking during the parliamentary Committee on Administration and Internal Security, the commission's chairperson Eliud Kinuthia revealed plans for the commission to boost its manpower. He defended the commission's plan saying that more than 10,000 officers had left the service for various reasons including deployment and retirement.

"So far over 10,000 police officers have left the service through natural attrition, deployment, and retirement among other causes," the chair informed the committee.

However, Kinuthia told the committee that budget constraints were holding back the implementation. He pleaded for a review of the commission's supplementary estimates to help them achieve their plans. Kinuthia decried the budget cut saying it blocked their operations from running smoothly.

"The commission intends to recruit over 25,000 police officers within five years; however, inadequate funds have hindered the recruitment process for the last two years," Kinuthia revealed.

The Committee chair Gabriel Togoyo highlighted that security was a crucial sector in the country and agreed to look into the budget matter.

Plans to hire more officers were revealed when the second group of approximately 200 police officers landed in Haiti for a peacekeeping deployment. They are among a thousand officers who received special training to help restore stability to the war-torn country.

Kinuthia's financial concerns come just days after President William Ruto implemented significant cuts to government spending. After declining to sign the 2024/25 fiscal bill, the president approved a supplemental budget. The budget allotted Sh377.5 billion to National Security. The National Police Service would receive Sh 110.6 billion, National Intelligence Sh46.3 billion, and Kenya Prisons Sh32.7 billion.