Kiganjo College to be upgraded to a police university

WANGARI MWANGI AND SAMUEL MAINA-KNA

The Government plans to elevate the Kiganjo Police Training College in Nyeri into a fully fledged police university.

Making the announcement, Interior Cabinet Secretary (CS) Kipchumba Murkomen said the move is aimed at strengthening police training and enhancing the professional capacity of officers serving in the National Police Service (NPS).

The CS said the proposed upgrade would allow officers to earn degrees from the institutions.

In the long-term, Murkomen said the government is hoping that the elevation will transform the police training college into a regional centre of excellence that will also serve as a hub for regional and international collaboration.

“We think it is now time that we upgrade this institution from just a mere training college to become a police university, so that police officers can have an institution where largely we are training them up to the university level to get their degree from this institution,” he said.

“But also it shall be a resource centre for other police officers in the region from other Policing Services in East Africa, Africa and beyond and therefore through this institution we can put in place better exchange programme with other policing institutions globally and training institutions globally, so that we will continue training our police officers to be the best in the world,” added Murkomen. 

He also revealed that the government is in the process of revamping the police training curriculum to align it with the best policing practices.

The CS said that the new module will see police recruits receive training in the law, human rights, investigations and emerging trends of crime.

He urged the Inspector General (IG) of police to expedite completion of the National Training Policy for National Police Service, which will act as a guide for the state, even as it moves to revamp police training facilities across the country, as well as equip police officers with the requisite skills to execute their duties.

“I am hoping by the time we come here with President William Ruto for the passing-out parade, we should be able to have launched a new Training Policy Strategy, that will capture the issues that the people of Kenya came-up with during the Jukwaa la Usalama, so that we can be able to move forward as a strong institution,” stated Murkomen.

The CS noted that the government is undertaking serious reforms within the NPS that will focus on improving the institutional and human resource capacity.

He also outlined on-going reforms including the adoption of technology in the police service.

He said the reforms include migration from the Integrated Command Control and Communication Centres to adoption of Integrated Command, Control, Communication and Computation Centres.

Murkomen revealed that the NPS is currently at the tail end of the procurement process, which will see the creation of one national command centre and six regional centres in Nairobi, Nyeri, Mombasa, Kisumu and Eldoret.