The National Taskforce on Police Reforms has made significant recommendations for future recruitment of officers to the National Police Service and the Kenya Prisons Service.
Key among these recommendations is that the academic qualifications of those wishing to enlist should be raised from the current minimum KCSE grade of D plus to C minus.
In its recommendations, the taskforce said raising the recruitment qualification will enhance professionalism in the disciplined services.
“The taskforce recommends that the minimum qualifications for recruitment into the Service should be raised to grade C minus in KCSE. However, for the marginalised areas, the taskforce recommends the retention grade D plus, where there are no applicants with grade C minus in KCSE,” the taskforce said in its report.
The taskforce has also recommended that training of recruits be extended to 12 months, with emphasis placed on competency-based training in line with international policing standards and introduction to practical attachment component to the training of NPS officers.
The same academic qualification was recommended for the KPS recruits with an additional age requirement being added for those wishing to serve as officers.
“To address the challenges around immaturity prevalent in the entrants, the minimum age should be raised from 18 to 21 years for the respective services,” the taskforce said in the report.
It has also been recommended that the training for cadets should not be any less than 15 months while those of constables not being less than a year.
Further recommendations are that to join the NYS, recruits should hold, as a minimum, a KCSE certificate and the NYS officers recruited from among ex-servicemen/women.
To boost leadership gaps and the advancement of careers among officers, the taskforce commended the establishment of grades of Inspector II and I, and the introduction of Constable III, II and I, and Corporal III, II and I within the same ranks, to be filled through an open and competitive process based on merit.
Should these recommendation be adopted, they will effectively bring to an end to the constant ridicule that uniformed service men and women often are subjected to by the public over their academic credentials.
Implementation of these recommendations is also likely to sound a death knell for numerous young people in the country aspiring to join the disciplined services.
