The National Police Service (NPS) is set to phase out the current general duty police uniforms upon the conclusion of a public participation exercise which was started today (Tuesday).
A team from the police headquarters will be visiting the eight regions in the country to involve the officers and the public in the latest move which they say is highly embraced by the members.
The plan comes barely five years after former President Uhuru Kenyatta unveiled the current all-Persian blue police uniforms in 2018. At the time, the government said this was to enhance the visibility of the police and create uniformity across all ranks during the merger of the Administration Police and the Kenya Police.
Addressing the press after meeting the officers and voting in favour of the expected uniform, Mr. Peter Ndungú, the Director in Charge of Logistics, said the move is in line with President William Ruto pre-election pledge to introduce a modest police uniform.
“We are going to visit all the eight regions, which are the former provinces and we shall consolidate all the views and present to the appointing authority who is the IG,” said Ndung’u.
“Tomorrow we shall visit Central region, Nyeri then we proceed to Nakuru then Mombasa, Garissa then Eastern before proceeding to Western then Kisumu.”
Ndung’u reiterated that the current uniforms were not subjected to public participation while being introduced to the officers.
He said after a week, the team going around the country will present a report to the Committee tasked to conceptualize the plan.
The proposed new uniforms feature a light blue shirt and navy blue pants for both genders.
Additional features on the new uniform include the Kenya Police logo on the left hand and the Kenyan flag on the right.
The uniform will also have inbuilt name tags that do not give police officers the room to remove. A move expected to prevent rogue officers who used to remove the name tag and service number whenever they intended to break the law.
Other accessories including sweaters, trench coats and reflectors will accompany the uniform that come in long and short sleeves.
By Fred Azelwa