Ruto Bans Import of Shoes for KDF and Police

Jukwaa

🇰🇪 Breaking It Down

Speaking during an interview with Felix Omondi, popularly known as Dr King’ori, on Monday, June 29, Ruto said he had directed that all government spending on footwear for security agencies, including the National Police Service (NPS), the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) and the Kenya Prisons Service, be exclusively reserved for Kenyan manufacturers.

“The one instruction I have given is that any money spent on buying shoes for our security agencies must be used to purchase shoes made in Kenya,” he stated.

He disclosed that when concerns were raised over the quality of locally made shoes, he instructed officials to provide manufacturers with the required specifications instead of sourcing the footwear from abroad.

📌 What You Need to Know

Ruto said local manufacturers were able to produce shoes that met the required standards, allowing the government to fully adopt local sourcing for security agency shoes.

According to the President, Kenya’s annual shoe production has increased from five million to 11 million pairs over the past three years, with the government now targeting production of 20 million pairs annually.

He added that the increased local production is expected to create up to 20,000 jobs, with manufacturers also partnering with colleges to train more skilled workers in shoemaking.

“The money we have been spending to buy shoes from all over the place is now in Kenya. And the number of people being hired in Kenya is now growing,” he said.

The President said the initiative forms part of a broader strategy to progressively reduce the country’s reliance on imported shoes while strengthening the local leather industry.

To this end, he pointed to the County Aggregation and Industrial Parks (CAIPs) project, which is establishing facilities in all 47 counties to support manufacturing closer to the source of raw materials.

📰 Source: Kenyans.co.ke

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