Because of the very sensitive nature of their responsibilities, the police will always be in the news—often negatively.

Save for a few countries in the West, Oceania and Scandinavia where security providers are recognised and respected for the work they do, rarely are officers showered with accolades in the Third World, Kenya included.

However, there is a noticeable positive change in the way the National Police Service (NPS) is carrying out its mandate. There is a growing humane face, social integration, sense of responsibility as well as integrity among NPS officers, a move that should not only be commended but also encouraged.

The public relations being exhibited by NPS workers is an impressive feat for which their top-notch handlers should be patted on the back. For many years, the police have been associated with seamy acts like brutality, impunity and misuse of firearms and implicated in cases of bribery, murder, assault, extortion, drug peddling; missions they execute with extreme arrogance and disdain for the law.

The most recent harrowing stories about the police in crime involved abductions and extrajudicial killings. Whereas the above vices have not been weeded out completely, there is a sense of hope in the manner NPS are conducting themselves both in public and private.

One morning towards the end of last year, I visited the National Treasury building where I was surprised to meet a young armed policeman on duty who warmly welcomed me “karibu ndugu” with a hand-greeting and a smile on his face as he escorted me to the lift.

That was a new one to me. Last week, I encountered another warm reception, also, from a young officer at the busy Kenyatta International Convention Centre, who was ready to assist me and many others reach our destinations with ease. I was impressed. What is more, each coming day, we are witnessing—courtesy of social media—incidents where NPS officers are helping citizens or rescuing them from situations.

That was rarity in the past. Though coming late in the day, the appointment of a presidential taskforce to look into the welfare of NPS and Kenya Prisons Service (KPS) is a laudable move.

The police execute some of the most difficult professional duties daily, day and night. The provision of security, all round the clock, to more than 50 million citizens—some of whom are rude, disorderly and violent—is no mean task. It takes a committed soul and mind to achieve that. This is what majority of our officers are made of.

Like the rest of Kenyans, both NPS and KPS employees have been confronted with overwhelming psycho-social challenges that lead them to regrettable tragedies among members of their ranks, including murder, suicide, rape and burglary.

Which is why the panel appointed by President William Ruto to explore the working conditions of NPS and KPS personnel must hit the road running and execute the mandate with utmost speed and dedication.

The team, chaired by the highly respected immediate former Chief Justice David Maraga, has its work clearly cut out. There are no excuses. The appointment in September last year of former Commandant of Police Training College, Kiganjo, Japhet Koome to the position of Inspector-General of Police should act as a boon to the desired urgent reforms in NPS.

Koome has vast experience, right temperament and education that perch him at a position where he is equal to the task. He is, therefore, expected to be a facilitator and not stumbling block to envisaged NPS reforms.

However, I am not in any way insinuating the entire NPS is clean. Some rotten eggs still roam within its corridors—the incorrigible elements who are still comfortable with living in the past and are not ready to discard the old habits. There are pockets of officers who have turned themselves into toll stations.

They have made extortion, corruption and blackmail a way of life. They troop to public roads every morning to menacingly demand bribes from vulnerable public transport operators and in the evening retire to the estates to continue with the intimidation of bar and night club owners. It is a daily routine countrywide that should not be tolerated any more. That is an eyesore Koome has to deal with. Urgently so!

— The author is the Revise Editor, the People Daily newspaper/ kwayeram@ yahoo.co.uk