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The low morale in the National Police Service (NPS) blamed on low pay and poor working conditions could become past tense starting today if proposals by a task force led by former Chief Justice David Maraga are implemented.

The task force that is scheduled to present its report to President William Ruto today at State House, Nairobi, has proposed far reaching reforms in the service including an increment of the junior officers’ salary by almost 50 per cent.

Sources in the team confided to the People Daily that Justice Maraga’s team has proposed to have the salary of a Constable, which is the lowest rank from the current Sh21,645 to at least Sh 50,000 with the highest, Inspector General’s earning being capped at Sh800,000.

The team has also reportedly proposed a radical improvement on the police and prison officers’ welfare, from housing ,allowances, general working conditions, promotions, deployments and transfers.

The team has reportedly tackled various challenges facing officers, among them endemic corruption, training, tribalism and nepotism in transfers and deployment as well as lack of equipment such as vehicles and stationery.

Terms and conditions

The 20-member National Taskforce on Improvement of Terms and Conditions of Service and other Reforms for Members of the National Police Service and Kenya Prisons Service was appointed by President William Ruto on December 21, 2022.

Its 90-day term was to end on March 21 but President Ruto extended it by two months to include National Youth Service (NYS) terms and conditions.The taskforce is chaired by Justice Maraga and has been going round the country to identify legal, policy, administrative, institutional and operational constraints on effective service delivery by the Police and Prisons services.

They are also expected to review and recommend improvement of terms and conditions of the service, matters relating to the welfare of officers and also assess, consider, review and recommend the nature, quality and standard of the uniform for the services’ officers as well as for inmates.

The team is expected to consider pay and allowances, medical cover and other welfare issues of the officers. Organised groups, individuals and institutions have submitted their proposals at the hearings.

Maraga is deputised by Carole Kariuki and other members include Moffat Muriithi Kangi, John Ole Moyaki, Ibrahim Jillo Guyo, Richard Kirundi, Elizabeth Mueni, Roseline Odede, and Joash Odhiambo Dache.

Others are Doreen Muthaura, Albert Mwenda, Terry Chebet Maina, Hassan Sheikh Mohamed, Simiyu Werunga, Mutuma Ruteere, Anne Ireri, Stephen Kayongo, Jafaar Mohamed and Sammy Chepkwony.

Last week, Principal Secretary for Internal Security Dr Raymond Omollo met the technical committee on Police Reforms in Malindi and announced that the taskforce will this week submit its report to the President with the ultimate goal of addressing the welfare of security officers and at the same time enhance their effectiveness.

“Alongside the equipping of our police officers, we expect to see very critical and specific recommendations. From those recommendations, we expect to extract specific action points based on the implementation metrics, which will go a long way in ensuring that the issues of the police are properly addressed,” the PS said.

The National Police Service Commission (NPSC) recommended the position of the Inspector General be rotated among three units of Kenya Police, Administration Police and Directorate of Criminal Investigations.

Salary recommendations

The commission argued all past IGs have been from KPS. They further recommended that the lowest paid police officer earning Sh20,300 be paid Sh34,550. It asked that leave allowance be equivalent to one month salary, maternity dress allowance be at Sh30,000.

NPSC chairman Eliud Kinuthia also recommended that officers injured in the line of duty and unable to perform their duties be retired and given a decent package and that the service reverts to the old police uniform.

They also recommended that the Marine Police Unit be reverted to the NPS from the Military’s Kenya Coast Guard Services; the Police Airwing to police from the current National Air Support Department (NASD).

Recruit civilians

Kinuthia further recommended that the service and the Commission should be allowed to recruit civilians to perform non-core duties, saying it costs close to Sh800,000 to train an officer and it was not right to deploy them to perform, for example, clerical duties.

“We need to focus more on the salary and allowances. This will ensure that officers get a reasonable pension upon retirement,” he added.

In August, police officers got a pay rise following the conclusion of a job evaluation process by the NPSC. The Commission said the review was arrived at following a consensus from a process undertaken jointly with the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC). The increment however was not related to the yet-to-be released David Maraga-led Taskforce.

“There is a clear delineation of mandate between a constitutional commission and a Taskforce. It would have happened whether or not the Taskforce was in place or not, the Presidential Taskforce is in fact had higher mandate,” the chairman said.