Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki has ordered the immediate transfer of police officers who have served in one station for more than three years.

Kindiki made the declaration while appearing before the Senate National Security, Defence, and Foreign Relations Committee on Wednesday, October 11.

The Interior CS emphasized that the police transfers should be completed within 60 days, adding that those who fail to adhere to the directive will have their salaries withheld. 

“The directive by the government is that any officer after the 60 days who continues to resist or for whatever reason does not move to a different station, the salary will be stopped. It is that serious,” said Kindiki. 

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He explained that the directive was one of the recommendations by the taskforce on police reforms chaired by Chief Justice Emeritus David Maraga. 

Kindiki further explained that the government is intensifying foot and mobile patrols as well as sensitizing communities on the importance of reporting suspicious persons to the police as a way of reducing the rate of crime.

He further disclosed that the government was keen on ensuring that police officers deployed on special assignments spent a maximum of one year at a workstation.

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“For those doing serious operations, normally we transfer them within one year because of the demanding nature of the operations they are involved in,” Kindiki said.

The Interior CS was appearing before the senate committee to respond on the state of security in the country.

This was after Kindiki deployed a contingent of elite police units on October 5 to Sondu along the border of Kisumu and Kericho Counties to restore normalcy after the clashes.