Nairobi, Kenya, Sept 13 – President William Ruto is set to sign an Executive Order giving the National Police Service (NPS) financial autonomy with the Inspector General as the Accounting Officer.
President Ruto said Tuesday in his first address to the Nation as the Head of State that the constitution provides for the IG to exercise independent command over the NPS.
However, the Head of State said that the operational autonomy of the office of IG has been undermined by what he described as the continued financial dependence on the Office of the President.
“As I address you, I have instructed that the instruments conferring financial autonomy to the National Police Service by transferring their budget from the Office of the present and designating the Inspector General as the accounting officer be placed on my desk for signature this afternoon,” President Ruto said.
The Head of State pointed out that the financial independence of the police will give impetus to the fight against graft and end the political weaponization of the criminal justice system in the country.
President Ruto further assured all public servants that his administration will respect their professional service noting that an era of intimidation had come to an end.
“No public servant even chiefs and their assistants will be required to run political errands for any political party or formation,” he said.
During the campaign period, President Ruto had decried what he described as misuse of the National Government Administration Officers by the state for the benefit of certain politicians and was highly opposed to the participation of public servants including Cabinet Secretaries in campaigns.
His stand put him on a collision course with some Cabinet secretaries who had sworn their political allegiance to his main challenger Raila Odinga and his predecessor Uhuru Kenyatta.
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