The fourth Inspector General of the National Police Service Engineer Japhet Koome was on Friday, November 11, sworn-in in a ceremony presided over by Chief Justice Martha Koome.
Koome takes over from Mr. Noor Gabow who has been the IGP in an acting capacity following the retirement of Mr. Hilary Mutyambai on health grounds, as announced by President William Ruto, on September 27, 2022.
Details of Koome
Koome, has served in the police service for the last 31 years, having been enlisted in the then Kenya Police Force in 1991 as a Police Constable. This is after graduating from the University of Nairobi in 1990, with a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering.
The Inspector General of Police, developed passion for police work while he was still a student at Kagumo high school and it is while in form five that he would visit Kenya Police College – Kiganjo twice a week under a programme dubbed, Kenya Police Cadet Cops, to learn police work.
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Upon his graduation at the country’s premier police training institution, Eng Koome, was posted to Nairobi where he performed beats and patrols duties as a police constable before being posted to the Anti Stock Theft Unit (ASTU) in Gilgil. It is while at the unit credited with recovery of stolen livestock that Eng Koome was promoted from a constable to an Inspector of police and by 1998, he was a gazetted officer, at the rank of Superintendent of Police.
He was later recalled to general duty and posted to Buru Buru police division where he was the deputy divisional commander. He also served as the OCPD Machakos, Maragua, Buru Buru, and Central in Nairobi where he dealt with armed criminal gangs in Nairobi’s Eastlands and bank robbers who had taken the city by storm.
But perhaps it is his stint as the Director Planning at Police headquarters that Eng Koome’s impact in the service was heavily felt, as he spearheaded the police housing and modernization programme where dilapidated police structures across various police stations in the country left behind by colonialists, were replaced with modest buildings giving the service a new face.
He went on to serve as director planning for 10 years and oversaw major reforms in the thorny issue of police housing and infrastructure development.
Recently, Eng Koome has served as the Nairobi police boss, the principal assistant to the Deputy Inspector General at Vigilance house and the Commandant National Police College Main Campus-Kiganjo.
Undoubtedly, as he takes over office this morning, the new IGP will take the leading role in exercising independent command over the National Police Service and transforming the service to a people-centred police service that is responsive to the public safety and security needs of all Kenyans.
The Inspector General’s Office was established following the promulgation of the 2010 constitution and its first office holder retired IGP David Mwole Kimaiyo, was appointed as the first office holder on December 20, 2012.
