Kimaiyo announced that President Kenyatta had accepted his decision/file
NAIROBI, Kenya Dec 2 – David Kimaiyo Tuesday announced his retirement from the National Police Service on what he termed as personal grounds amid growing calls for his resignation over continued terror attacks.
Kimaiyo announced that President Uhuru Kenyatta had accepted his decision to vacate office as Inspector General of Police.
“It has a reached a time that I now take leave as an officer who has served for the last 34 years in one line of duty. I joined the service when I was 20 years old and nobody has forced me to retire,” he stated.
Kimaiyo says he will stay on until a new Inspector General of Police assumes office.
He quit hours after terrorists butchered 36 Kenyans in Mandera who were asleep in tents at a quarry located at Koromey area.
READ: 36 people killed in another Mandera attack.
In Wajir County, people armed with AK-47 rifles forced their way into Ngamia Club on Monday night at 8.15pm and shot indiscriminately at revelers inside the club killing one person and injuring 13.
In November, a bus bound for Nairobi was hijacked five kilometers from the Kenya-Somalia border at dawn.
Twenty eight Non-Muslims were ordered out of the bus, told to lie face down on the ground before they all shot in the head.
READ: Gunmen execute 28 on Kenya bus near Somalia border
Somalia’s Shabaab militants claimed responsibility for the attacks.
Other major attacks by the militia group include the Westgate shopping mall attack that claimed 67 lives as well as Mpeketoni attacks where heavily-armed gunmen drove into the town of Mpeketoni and opened fire indiscriminately at anyone they came across.
Prior to his appointment as Inspector General, Kimaiyo was Head of the Kenya National Focal Point on Small Arms and Light Weapons.
He has also served as the Commander of the Presidential Escort Unit from 1999 to 2002 before taking up the position of Commandant, General Service Unit between 2002 and 2003.
He was the first Inspector General of the Kenya Police a position created by the 2010 Kenyan Constitution to replace the position of Police Commissioner.
“This was not a very simple task, its indeed very challenging especially when we are in the era of international war. This is war we are facing as a country, not a petty crime, if you look at Westgate, Mpeketoni and other attacks this is not a small matter, we are in war as a country, and we cannot relent, we have to continue fighting them until the last person,” Kimaiyo added pointing out the National Police Service is equal to the task.
President Uhuru Kenyatta last week directed government security actors to engage with the members of the relevant committees of the Legislature, in bid to rectify administrative and legal hurdles that limit the ability to deal with the very real and existential threat the country faces.
“On Thursday this week, I expect a final report of their deliberations and recommendations for my consideration and further action. To this end, I have written to the National Assembly to ask them to extend their sitting until this process is concluded,” President Kenyatta said on Tuesday.
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