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| Some of the new regional police bosses named by Inspector-General of Police Joseph Boinnet on January 3, 2019. PHOTO | COURTESY |
The Inspector-General of Police Joseph Boinnet has appointed eight regional commanders, marking the first phase of the command restructuring announced last year.
IG Boinnet on Thursday announced the appointment of Rashid Yakub as Western regional commander, Philip Ndolo (Nairobi) Judy Ndenda (Central), Edward Mwamburi (Rift Valley), Vincent Makokha (Nyanza), Marcus Ochola (Coast), Eunice Kihiko (Eastern) and Paul Soi (North Eastern).
In the new changes, the police geographic and operational boundaries will be aligned with current administrative boundaries to deliver a unified command organised removing the current police divisions, headed by the OCPD.
The changes in the command structure of the National Police Service will gradually strip some senior police officers of their powers at the regional, county and station levels.
Initially, the three arms of the National Police Service, the Kenya Police Service (KPS), the Administration Police Service (APS) and the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), each had independent commanders at every level.
But with the new changes announced by President Uhuru Kenyatta last September, regional commanders of APS, KPS, DCI will fall under one National Police Service Regional Command. The newly appointed commanders will now take over.
The NPS expects to also make changes in the coming days in the county command.
Other posts that were unified include those of the county commanders of KPS, APS, DCI, sub-county commanders of APS and DCI.
KPS officer commanding police divisions (OCPDs), APs commanders for district and wards will soon, also no longer exist.
With the changes, the police will receive orders from a regional police commander (RPC), a county police commander (CPC), a sub-county police commander (SPC), and an officer commanding police station (OCS) who will also be known as a ward commander.
While announcing the changes and ordering implementation, President Uhuru Kenyatta said the new changes, will see a unified, effective and efficient police service because the commands will flow faster and do not have to pass through many levels.