President William Ruto has issued a stern warning to politicians against hiring gangs to disrupt meetings, intimidate opponents or unleash violence, saying no political objective can justify the use of force.
The President said politically sponsored violence has no place in Kenya’s democracy and directed the National Police Service and other security agencies to take firm, lawful and impartial action against individuals who finance, organise, incite or perpetrate political violence.
Speaking on Friday during the passing-out parade of more than 6,000 police recruits at the National Police College main campus in Kiganjo, Nyeri County, he directed the security agencies to go beyond arresting young people recruited to cause violence and pursue those who finance, recruit, transport and pay them.
“Do not arrest only the young person holding a weapon while allowing the person who recruited, transported and paid him to escape responsibility,” he stated.
Present were Interior and National Administration Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen, Interior Principal Secretary Raymond Omolo, Inspector-General of Police Douglas Kanja, Deputy Inspector-General Eliud Lagat, Kiganjo National Police College Commandant Nyale Munga and Mathira MP Eric Wamumbi, among other dignitaries.
The President pointed out that no politician is entitled to maintain a private militia and no candidate has the right to intimidate citizens.
President Ruto’s warning comes as the country prepares for the August 10, 2027, General Election, which he said must be conducted in an environment where political competition is based on ideas, policies and leadership rather than hired gangs, intimidation and ethnic mobilisation.
Political competition, he explained, is an essential feature of democracy and all political parties must be free to organise while candidates should be allowed to campaign without encountering violence and threats.
Citizens, he added, must also be free to assemble, listen, question, criticise and choose their leaders.
“The police and other security agencies have a clear constitutional responsibility: To protect the democratic space in which Kenyans exercise these freedoms,” the President said.
He challenged the police to strike a delicate balance between maintaining public order and protecting constitutional freedoms, saying peaceful political participation must not be criminalised while criminal conduct must not be excused in the name of politics.
He cited Article 37 of the Constitution, which protects the right of every person, peacefully and unarmed, to assemble, demonstrate, picket and present petitions to public authorities.
At the same time, the President said the Constitution does not protect arson, looting, assault, intimidation or destruction of public and private property.
“The responsibility of the police is to distinguish between peaceful democratic participation and criminal conduct. You must neither criminalise legitimate dissent nor excuse violence committed under the cover of politics,” he said.
The President congratulated the new officers, who underwent nine months of intense training, and commended their instructors and commanders for preparing them for what he described as an onerous responsibility.
He also commended the families of the recruits for the sacrifices, encouragement and support they provided throughout the training period.
President Ruto told the new officers that their responsibilities would extend beyond arresting suspects, urging them to focus on preventing crime, protecting lives and building public confidence.
“Courage must be guided by judgement, authority tempered by restraint and enforcement anchored in the law,” he said.
He said modern policing requires officers who were physically prepared, professionally competent, technologically proficient and psychologically resilient.
Criminal networks, President Ruto noted, are becoming increasingly sophisticated, with cybercrime, financial fraud, terrorism, human trafficking, organised crime and technology-enabled violence requiring stronger intelligence and closer cooperation among security agencies.
The President warned the officers against corruption, bribery, collusion with criminals, excessive use of force and abuse of authority, saying such conduct betrays the Constitution, dishonours the police uniform and weakens the institution.
He urged them to remain disciplined, impartial and incorruptible wherever they are deployed, and to protect vulnerable citizens while treating everyone with dignity.
The President took the opportunity to outline measures the Government is undertaking to improve the welfare and work conditions of police officers.
He said the three-phase review of police remuneration had been completed, with the entry-level basic pay for a police constable rising from KSh21,645 to KSh29,360, an increase of about 36 per cent.
Salaries across other ranks had also been adjusted upwards.
The Government, he added, was addressing the long-standing shortage of police housing through the National Institutional Housing Programme, which boasts 47,464 housing units across 165 projects.
More than 2,000 units have been completed, while over 9,500 are at various stages of construction and a further 24,000 are under procurement.
He disclosed that more than 138,000 police and prison officers and their dependants had been onboarded onto the Usalama Cover under the Social Health Authority.
The cover provides access to primary healthcare, inpatient and outpatient treatment, specialised care and other essential services without co-payment or administrative barriers.
The President also unveiled a new uniform for General Duty officers of the Kenya Police Service. The graduating officers became the first to wear the new uniform, which will be progressively rolled out to General Duty officers across the country beginning next week.
The Administration Police Service and the General Service Unit will retain their current operational uniforms.
The President said the change followed consultations with police officers and the public in 2023 and recommendations of a presidential taskforce on the terms and conditions of service and reforms in the security services.
The President reminded the graduating officers that the authority they were being entrusted with came from the people and that their ultimate loyalty belonged to the Constitution.
The ideal police officer, President Ruto explained, should make innocent citizens feel protected, provide refuge to the vulnerable and ensure criminals face justice.
Mr Murkomen said the Jukwaa la Usalama programme, through which his ministry engaged communities across the country, identified inadequate police personnel as one of the major concerns raised by Kenyans.
Mr Murkomen said the Government had responded by recruiting and training more officers under a modern curriculum designed to prepare them for emerging security challenges.
He said the Government also planned to reopen regional police training centres to increase opportunities for continuous professional development and ensure officers could regularly upgrade their skills.
“Continuous training will be the cornerstone of our policing,” Mr Murkomen said.
The Government, he added, is embracing digitisation to improve the efficiency of police services, citing the police clearance certificate whose processing duration has been reduced to one day from the previous 14 days.
Mr Kanja commended President Ruto for boosting the morale of police officers through investments in technology and modern equipment, as well as the Government’s housing programme and other measures aimed at improving their welfare.
Earlier, President Ruto had broken ground for the construction of a state-of-the-art Chief Physical Training Instructor Grounds at the college, a major investment aimed at modernising police training.
The project, supported by the United States Government in partnership with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, will include the construction of new facilities and the upgrading and refurbishment of existing infrastructure at the police training institution.
The improvements will include a new physical training facility, library and shooting range, designed to equip police officers with the skills, knowledge and practical capabilities required to deal with the increasingly complex demands of modern policing.
Speaking during the groundbreaking ceremony, US Embassy Chargé d’Affaires and Head of Mission Susan Burns said the project would strengthen Kenya’s efforts to build a modern, professional and efficient police service.
She said the new facilities would help equip officers with the skills needed to respond effectively to terrorism, human trafficking and wildlife trafficking.
“The challenges of modern policing require modern training, modern facilities and the right skills,” Ms Burns said.
