The Task Force chairman Joseph Kaguthi says there should be more public participation to ensure trust between the police service and the public is enhanced/FILE
The Task Force chairman Joseph Kaguthi says there should be more public participation to ensure trust between the police service and the public is enhanced.
Addressing journalists on Monday, Kaguthi said police should examine and evaluate the traditional and current community policing systems and structures with a view to adopting the best practices and aligning them to the national security model.
“As security challenges evolve, so should it be the means of dealing with them for the National Police Service to adequately provide secure environment for Kenyans,” he stated.
“There has to be a complete shift in the way things are done. It is impossible to fight crime in the country, using last century strategies.”
He said the newly formed community policy programme dubbed ‘Nyumba Kumi’ was going to develop a road-map for fast-tracking the pending police reform activities.
For the task force to succeed in its mandate, he urged members of the public to support the initiative by taking security as a personal responsibility.
“Many Kenyans may wonder how different this task force is from those that have been appointed in the past, to undertake similar tasks only to end up with reports that continue gathering dust in the Government offices,” he pointed out.
He however said they were different in that, “the task force has been mandated to oversee the implementation of its proposals.”
He said that they intend to involve all stakeholders to ensure all have an opportunity to closely monitor the progress of the taskforce through the bi-annual progress reports.
The reports will be presented to the Cabinet Secretary for Interior, Joseph Ole Lenku for implementation.
Kaguthi expressed optimism that they will meet the country expectation in restoring security.
“We embark on this long but exciting journey to set up the framework for reformed policing in the country confident that a system anchored on the pillars of Community and smart policing will guarantee this country and her citizen’s adequate security,” he said.
On October 10, the government formed the 8-members committee which will oversee the implementation of the Nyumba Kumi initiative which is aimed at restoring security in the country.
Interior Cabinet Secretary Joseph ole Lenku said the government is keen to make the concept a key pillar of the policing strategy as directed by President Uhuru Kenyatta.
“Community policing is anchored in Article 244 (e) of our Constitution which requires the National Police Service to promote relationship with broader society,” he said.
Already, the government has issued an order requiring both Regional Coordinators and County Commissioners to enforce community policing in a bid to curb increasing rates of insecurity in the country.
“The government has directed that the concept of ‘Nyumba Kumi’ be integrated into community policing to ensure that the current system of villages under an elder are restructured into 10 household units similar to a concept in other jurisdictions like Tanzania,” Lenku had said while launching the programme on October 7.
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