The Deputy President; the CS Interior and National Administration; Governor Nairobi County; the Inspector General of the National Police Service; senior police officers; family and friends of graduands; graduands; good afternoon.
1. This is an auspicious day for many people in Kenya. It is memorable for the families of the graduands who have successfully completed the Recruits Course. It is also a historic day for Kenya’s policing institution and good news for the citizens of Kenya, whose legitimate demand for better security, more effective, professional, dynamic and modern police services are being answered.
2. It is also a day of tremendous assurance for the government of Kenya, which recognizes that our rights, freedoms, lives, livelihoods, belongings and all hope of prosperity, are literally in the hands of the policemen and women who continue to bravely take a selfless stand and keep the people safe and secure.
3. I therefore join the families and the College community in celebrating the cohort, which has successfully completed the course, thereby embarking on a life and career dedicated to the high calling of policing. You have satisfied the college staff and instructors that you are fit to serve in your next assignment and are ready to serve your nation and its people with distinction, honour and patriotism.
4. You have also demonstrated to the satisfaction of the commandant and the course instructors, as well as all the staff of this college, that you have acquired the skills and discipline required to play your role in injecting fresh and modern approaches to the practice of the noble profession of policing.
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5. We do not take this milestone for granted and on behalf of the government and the people of Kenya, I congratulate you for your fine achievement.
6. I urge you to always take the spirit of flawless coordination, which enables you to display unity of command, discipline and harmony in executing today’s spectacular parade. Your performance on the field before us is symbolic of your promise of excellence in professional service delivery in order to meet the high expectations of citizens that their rights, freedoms and interests are at all times in safe hands.
7. You go forth to serve in an increasingly complex and dynamic security environment, with diverse novel threats emerging on a continuous basis to compound ordinary crime and chronic security challenges. It is our legitimate expectation that you are ready to face the challenge head-on in a skilful, efficient and effective manner, thereby safeguarding the necessary environment for Kenyans to pursue their aspirations and achieve shared prosperity.
8. I urge you to be ever mindful of your immense responsibility to dedicate all your service to the observance of your Oath of Allegiance, your Standing Orders, the Constitution and all the laws of the land.
9. Furthermore, I remind you of the government’s commitment to realise a new policing paradigm, underpinned by a citizen-centred, serviceoriented approach to the provision of security and maintenance of law and order. This paradigm also respects and upholds integrity, fundamental human rights and constitutional freedoms, human dignity and our determination as a nation to pursue sustainable development as an open and democratic society. As pertains to the Constitution, therefore, I particularly call on you to be mindful of the national values and principles of governance to serve as your professional anchor.
10. The need for modernization arises from the constantly evolving complexity of contemporary security challenges. Technology and globalization has enabled antisocial characters and criminal networks to threaten society in more dangerous ways, over a vast international range.
11. It is important for every police professional to rise to this challenge by acquiring insights to empower them in understanding complicated and sophisticated criminal and security threats and skills that enable them work effectively with modern technology and equipment.
12. We are determined to deliver security in all parts of Kenya without sacrificing fundamental rights and freedoms. A more autonomous, professional and better resourced police service whose members enjoy conducive terms of employment and conditions of service and have access to adequate welfare amenities, will go a long way in facilitating this commitment.
13. We have liberated the police service from political and bureaucratic control by relocating the police budget from the Office of the President to the Office of the Inspector-General. Without autonomy, the police service is vulnerable to weaponization, making it a threat, instead of the solution to challenges in our security and law-and-order sectors.
14. We have also sustained the commitment to escalate the police-tocitizen ratio by recruiting and training more policemen and women on a continuous basis to ensure that Kenyans have access to responsive and effective police protection throughout the country.
15. Further, we have increased our investment in the provision of infrastructure, equipment and technology for the police to improve their capacity to combat crime and protect Kenyans and their property. This includes the establishment of an ultra-modern forensic laboratory to enable our investigators solve complex crimes and keep bad elements off through effective prosecution.
16. Additionally, we have enhanced coordination between various agencies in resolving crime and security threats, while at the same time deepening the collaboration between the police services and communities. For this reason, it is important for every police officer to be mindful of the need to maintain relations of mutual respect with members of the public as a matter of necessity. This is because citizens are their employers, citizens’ rights and freedoms are constitutionally protected and also because cordial relations with the public enhances police capacity to keep citizens, their communities and property safe.
17. As regards the terms of employment, conditions of service and welfare of police officers, the government has undertaken a number of measures. I recently appointed a Taskforce to Review the Conditions of Service for the Police and Prisons Services, whose report and recommendations shall chart a clear and actionable path to significant improvements.
18. Also, the provider of comprehensive health insurance cover has been competitively contracted, to ensure that all police officers and their families have access to high quality medical services, including mental health and psycho-social support.
19. Finally, we have identified police officers as priority beneficiaries of the affordable housing projects, in order to ensure that members of the service lead dignified lives in clean, spacious, safe and secure houses and neighbourhoods.
20. Kenyans are committed to meet their part of the bargain by ensuring that their government facilitates members of the police service to be ready and capable to protect them.
21. For this reason, I urge the graduates as well as all members of the service assembled here to reflect on their part of this contract and commit to do their utmost in delivering on it.
22. Kenya’s neighbourhood of the Horn of Africa continues to face various security challenges. War, armed conflict and civil strife has led to the collapse of law and order in various regions. The cross-border spillover of these crises have saddled our security sector with the burden of illicit firearms among civilian populations, sustaining banditry, cattle rustling and other threats to life, property, peace and security.
23. Kenya continues to seize every opportunity to restore peace and stability in affected countries and regions through peacekeeping deployments and robust diplomatic efforts. We shall not relent in this quest until our brothers and sisters in the Horn of Africa as well as East Africa enjoy peace, stability and prosperity.
24. The time has also come for us to decisively engage so as to eradicate banditry and cattle rustling within our borders. I am confident that our police services now have what it takes to execute this critical assignment.
25. As I conclude, I reiterate the high expectations that Kenyans have in you. You should have no difficulty whatsoever in meeting them, by serving them with discipline, dignity, courage, firmness and fairness. After your graduation today, you join your colleagues in the high calling to serve all in keeping with the police service motto: Utumishi Kwa Wote.
26. I pray for you and your families as you embark on serving the nation. May the Almighty God protect you and bless the work of your hands and may He grant you the wisdom and fortitude to serve with distinction even in challenging and dangerous situations.
27. On behalf of the government and the people of Kenya, I wish you success in your service. God bless you. God bless Kenya.
