Police allowed to wear old uniforms phased out by former administration

Police officers will now be able to work in their previous uniforms after President William Ruto’s government reversed the directive previously issued by his predecessor.

This is meant to address the shortage of the new royal blue uniforms and their quality.

National Police Service spokesperson Resila Onyango told a local publication that officers will wear both uniforms concurrently until a final decision is made on which uniform stays.

“There are some officers who do not have enough of the blue ones or they have faded as you may have seen in the streets. Since they still have the old ones, they can wear them. We are wearing them concurrently,” Resila stated.

The royal blue uniforms were introduced for all ranks of officers under Kenya Police Service in 2018. At the time, police and members of the public expressed dissatisfaction with the new uniforms.

The complaints among officers made headlines and became part of the campaign pledges by the Kenya Kwanza administration.

Led by Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua, the current administration assured officers that they would revoke the blue police uniform.

“You have suffered so much in the hands of Matiang’i and Kibicho. Even the new blue uniform that you don’t want will be revoked and we return to the old one. The blue one will be left for the PCEA church. It is the uniform of the women’s guild,” he said at the time.