Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen on Friday rolled out a sweeping package of benefits and reforms for chiefs and assistant chiefs, including promotions, increased capacity training, salary increases, new uniforms, and expanded security powers — with some set to be armed.
The 8,102 chiefs across the country will be taken through a paralegal and security management course for three weeks at the Embakasi College. The first cohort involves 1000 chiefs and assistant chiefs and will eventually cover all the remaining chiefs and assistant chiefs, some of whom are attending formal training for the first time in over 25 years.
During the training, a section of chiefs drawn from North Eastern region and the Rift Valley will be given an extra paramilitary training be registered as National Police Reservists, and issued with firearms after advanced instruction.
“This gap has diminished morale and affected service delivery. We are embarking on a rapid training exercise for all of them, starting here today,” Murkomen said.
The course will also equip chiefs with skills in crime prevention, land dispute resolution, environmental conservation, and inter-agency coordination.
“We have started with your training, which will be followed immediately by promotions. Welfare matters will be addressed,” he said, adding that chiefs remain “critical to the country’s governance and security architecture.”
During the forum, Mr Murkomen decried the lack of training of chiefs and assistant chiefs by the previous administrations, insisting that President William Ruto is committed to the realisation of the bottom-up economic model.
Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen (left) flags off lorries transporting Chiefs' and Assistant Chiefs' uniforms to different regions during the launch of the induction, paralegal, and security management training for Chiefs and Assistant Chiefs at the National Police College, Embakasi A, in Nairobi on August 15, 2025.
Photo credit: Bonface Bogita | Nation
This, he said, can only be realised by building the capacity of the assistant chiefs and chiefs who serve as a link between the office of the President and the people at the grassroots.
“The chiefs and assistant chiefs’ offices are often indicated as the office of the president. As a government, we are committed to upgrading the offices and the living conditions of these chiefs so that when citizens come to be served, they can feel they are in the office of the president,” Mr Murkomen said.
Murkomen said the programme answers concerns raised during the government’s Jukwaa la Usalama forums such as stalled promotions, poor mobility, and the high cost of travelling to Nairobi for uniforms.
He flagged off thousands of new uniform sets for county distribution, unveiled Standard Operating Procedures to guide relations between grassroots officers and the National Government Administration Police Unit, and pledged to expand the government vehicle-leasing programme. A section of the chiefs will also be issued with motorbikes to aid their mobility.
“I was surprised that chiefs and assistant chiefs are given standard sizes of shoes number 5 for ladies and 7 for men and as well as uniforms without measurements. We will be deliberate and we will begin taking measurements and ensure we distribute them to the counties instead of you traveling all the way to Nairobi,” Mr Murkomen said.
This year, 87 chiefs and 58 assistant chiefs have already been promoted to higher job groups. Murkomen promised those completing the course will see “immediate” promotions in line with Public Service Commission rules.
The training rollout comes just months after the government restored direct police support to chiefs and other National Government Administration Officers (Ngaos) through the newly operationalised National Government Administration Police Unit (Ngapu).
Ngapu, headed by Assistant Inspector-General Charles Mutuma, is tasked with enhancing grassroots security and works directly under Ngaos from county commissioners to assistant chiefs. The unit has deployed 6,000 officers drawn from the Administration Police Service, with plans to expand to 19,000 through phased recruitment based on regional security needs.
The unit’s creation reversed a 2018 policy that had stripped Ngaos of command over police units, a move that critics say weakened law enforcement at the grassroots. President William Ruto ordered the restructuring in August 2024, citing a lack of police backing for chiefs as a major hindrance to combating crime, shutting down illicit brews, and responding to inter-communal clashes.
The unit’s mandate includes suppressing outlawed gangs, supporting the enforcement of laws, assisting in the fight against sexual and gender-based violence, conducting high-risk operations, and cracking down on illicit brews and narcotics.
