Until October 19, 2022, Mr Eliud Lagat, then the head of the Bomb Disposal Unit, had his office at the basement of Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) headquarters along Kiambu road.
It was a tiny office that he shared with four of his colleagues. As a result, Lagat, 52, preferred to meet his friends and guests outside this office. Besides being stuffy and squeezed, this office did not have enough seats to accommodate guests.
The boss’s seat was not like those of his fellow section heads. It was broken and attempts to have it fixed had failed severally.
When the changes in the DCI came, it was a relief for Lagat who moved to the more spruced up office of the Director of Investigations at the DCI headquarters. This new office gave Lagat more comfort and projected his power.
Some 19 months down the line, Lagat, now the Deputy Inspector General in charge of Kenya Police, has an even swankier office. He occupies the corner office on the third floor at Vigilance House, police headquarters.
The seasoned career police officer with more than 25 years of experience in the service was the Commandant of the General Service Unit (GSU) before his current role.
Things have changed for the holder of a Master’s Degree in Armed Conflict and Peace Studies from the University of Nairobi since he was appointed the DIG.
Unlike his previous life in the basement office, the new position has come with a serious transformation for the graduate with a Bachelor of Technology in Automotive from the University of Eastern Africa, Baraton.
The velvet red carpet welcomes you to this new office. The golden leather recliner seat in the DIG office is a complete makeover of the dingy office where Lagat was stationed as the head of bomb squad.
“Its life,” says the police chief, who, however, doesn't appear impressed with transformation.
He recalls how after graduating from the Kenya Police College in Kiganjo, he was deployed to the General Service Unit headquarters where he started off as a mechanic repairing police vehicles.
At the time of joining the police college, Lagat was already a trained mechanic with a degree in Industrial Technology from the University of Eastern Africa-Baraton. He also had qualifications in automotive engineering.
He says his dream before joining the police service was to work for a big motor vehicle garage. But as fate would have, he did not end up in his dream job at General Motors but landed at the GSU workshop where he spent his early days fitting car brakes.
“I enjoyed it. I loved things to do with vehicles,” he reminisces.
Prior to training as a mechanic, Lagat harbored ambitions of joining the seminary and becoming a Catholic priest. This dream died as soon as he left Mother of Apostles Seminary where he attended his secondary school education.
Having risen from the lowest levels of the police service to the second highest office in the police service, Lagat says his vision now is to transform the police service.
“It’s the small things that count, “he explains.
“I want to see officers enjoy their work. I also want the police to serve the public with dedication,“ he adds.
Since coming to office on July 25, the softspoken police chief says he started implementing some of the basic changes that will see the police enhance their service delivery.
“Issues like cleanliness in the stations, the cells are some of the quick fix issues that do not require a budget to achieve,” the police boss explains.
Since taking over from Mr Douglas Kanja, who is now awaiting parliament approval to take over the IG’s office, Lagat has been making impromptu visits to different police stations around the country.
Last week, he toured Kilimani Police Station where he inspected the police cells and also checked on the general cleanliness in the station.
He has in the past made impromptu visits to other stations, including Mwiki Police Station in Nairobi.
“Police cells should not be a place for punishment. It doesn’t take much to ensure that these facilities are clean,” Lagat notes.
This new style of management has kept the police chiefs in the regions all the way to the stations on their toes as the DIG could wake up headed straight to a police station of his choice.
“It's time we dealt with these issues with finality," he says.
Regarding cases of police brutality, as was witnessed during anti-government protests, Lagat says: “We will transform the police into a mwananchi service. We owe it to the public to deliver the best of service. Watch this space."
In his long service, Lagat has received the Elder of the Burning Spear (EBS) award, the Order of the Grand Warrior (OGW) of Kenya, Head of State Commendation (HSC), the Silver Star (SS) of Kenya and the coveted “ndc” (K) from the National Defence College.
