Kenyan Parliament Votes To Remove Pockets From Police Uniform As Way To Fight Corruption

It is without doubt that a good number of police officers in Kenya have been noted for losing concentration on their job. Many of them turn to forget what they are being paid to do on the roadside. Instead of maintaining public order and seeing to the respect of the law, many choose to focus on collecting money from drivers and bike-riders and putting into their large pockets. The anti-corruption committee has been complaining about this for so long. Likewise, they have been actively working on finding a solution. It is in this light that the Kenyan parliament has voted to remove pockets from police uniform. This measure is believed to be what will help the police officers to concentrate on their job, improve security, and fight corruption.

Still on fighting corruption in Kenya, the use of camouflage uniforms by various security agencies other than the Armed Forces namely the Army, Navy, and the AirForce has been banned. The Kenyan police, however, will be permitted to use the uniform when in Joint Operation with the Military or when on Special Operation such as specific anti-riot missions.
A Major General in the Kenya said that the new rule followed the directive of the National Anti-Corruption Council approving approving the recommendations of a committee on severe measures to streamline the rate of corruption by uniform bodies. In other words, this is aimed at fighting the act of police collecting money from vehicle drivers and bike-riders to the extent of forgetting the actual job they were sent to do on the roadside.

The Major General further said that this was in view of the security implications and concerns raised on the issue of police loosing focus on their job and concentrating on collecting money through illegal ways. He goes on to say that:
“The use of pocket police uniform is therefore restricted to the military and for occasional use by the police henceforth,”

“With this development, the Ministry of Justice along with law enforcement agencies have been tasked to ensure that extant laws guiding the use of uniforms in Kenya are strictly enforced.”

“In the same vein, the Office of the National Security Adviser has been vested with the authority to vet and clear any production and supply of Police uniforms with pocket in Kenya.”

“The development has been communicated to all the agencies by the Office of the National Security Adviser.”