The pains experienced 75 years ago during the establishment of the International Police Association (IPA) in England bear similarities with what was experienced during the revival of IPA Kenyan chapter, years after it had been disbanded.

IPA has around 400,000 members in nearly 100 countries, making it the largest friendship association for serving and retired officers.

Shortly after the Second World War, Police Sergeant from Lincolnshire, England, Arthur Troop set out to create a channel for friendship and international co-operation amongst police officers.

Troop had always had great faith in people talking to each other, rather than fighting, and set about the enormous task of founding a world friendship organisation for police officers.

As expected, he experienced opposition from his police chief and the Home Office. He was even regarded as eccentric.

Between 1948 and 1949, contact was made with police friends at home and abroad. It culminated in the publication of an article in the British Police Review under the pseudonym of ‘Aytee.’

Following the amazing response, Troop went ahead and founded the IPA on January 1, 1950, under the Esperanto motto Servo per Amikeco (Service Through Friendship).

Troop became the first Secretary General of the British Section.

He had set out to establish an international association that would develop social, cultural, and professional links among its members in an environment free from discrimination based on rank, sex, colour, language, or religion.

With determination, it became a reality. A friendship organisation for members of the police force around the world, offering opportunities for travel, learning, meeting colleagues, and making friends through networking and shared interest groups, was formed.

Around 2010, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Jared Ojuok, then Chief Inspector of Police, was rummaging through some books and documents at a construction site within the Kenya Police Service headquarters when he chanced upon some IPA documents.

The IPA Kenya was established in 1961, the third section outside Europe to join the movement, shortly after Canada and Hong Kong, before it was later disbanded.

Ojuok, then a Chief Inspector of Police attached to the Public Relations office, enquired from the then Police Spokesperson Eric Kiraithe what the sssociation was about.

“Mr Kiraithe told me that there used to be such a thing, but it was disbanded. I was a bit curious, and I checked the files and found the contacts of Shuaib Adam, and I called him,” Ojuok said.

He decided to revive it, and in three months, he had organised the first IPA meeting at Vigilance House in a long time and also registered over 100 officers from the Kenya Police College Kiganjo and the General Service Unit Training School.

“Someone once asked me why I was so passionate about this movement. I feel it is my baby,” he told members during the AGM on February 21.

Ojuok is also the Kenya Police Service Public Information Officer and an author of books, including the fascinating novel “When the Ancient Tree Falls,” which is set in a remote Kenyan village and depicts the life of the local Luo community.

Ojuok would later be elected IPA Secretary General, a position he served for eight years. On February 21, 2025, he was elected the president, replacing the former Director of Police Operations.
The IPA International President Martin Hoffmann congratulated Ojuok, saying he was convinced under his leadership, the IPA Kenya Section will continue to play a vital role in the positive development of the association.