NAIROBI, Kenya, Oct 8— Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen has moved to accelerate the operationalization of County Policing Authorities, in a push to give communities a more structured role in policing and strengthen accountability at the county level.

📻 Breaking It Down

Murkomen on Thursday met senior security officials led by Inspector General of Police Douglas Kanja to review ongoing security reforms, with the meeting focusing on the legal and institutional arrangements needed to make the county policing structures fully functional.

The move could deepen community participation in security planning by creating a formal platform bringing together national security agencies, county governments and representatives of local communities.

He said the reforms would seek to strengthen public participation while ensuring policing remains anchored in the Constitution.

📌 What You Need to Know

“We remain committed to strengthening public participation in security matters, entrenching accountability and community policing, while ensuring that the implementation is undertaken within the Constitution,” Murkomen said.

The County Policing Authorities are already provided for under the National Police Service Act, which establishes an authority in every county chaired by the governor and comprising representatives of the National Intelligence Service, National Police Service, county assemblies and community interests.

The law also assigns the authorities a role in implementing community policing, including facilitating training, receiving reports from local policing structures and preparing county community-policing reports for submission to the Interior Cabinet Secretary.

Murkomen said the latest discussions were aimed at addressing the legal and institutional requirements for the authorities to become operational.

“We discussed the legal and institutional framework required to operationalise County Policing Authorities and agreed on the need for a coordinated approach involving all relevant institutions,” Murkomen said.

The push comes as the government also moves to strengthen the National Police Service Reserve, another component of its wider community-based security strategy.

📰 Source: Capital FM Kenya