Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta has ordered that an additional 10,000 police officers be conscripted and prepared for deployment around the country by next year.
Tuesday’s announcement by the Kenyan leader comes as his Jubilee administration attempts to tighten security around the country to stem a tide of attacks by al-Shabaab militants out to avenge Kenya’s troop presence in Somalia.
He said additional recruits will enable Kenya to achieve the recommended minimum of police population ratio of 1:430 to keep the country safe and secure.
He svowed that by 2017, Kenya will have met the United Nations requirement in terms of the number of police officers to the population.
President Kenyatta said the irony of insecurity, is that what was built through years of painstaking effort can be destroyed by reckless and rogue criminals in a matter of moments.
He was speaking while presiding over the passing out parade of 1,976 General Service Unit recruits at the GSU Training School in Nairobi on Tuesday.
“The matter of security is not peripheral to national development; it is at the very heart of it. Your work will have extraordinary significance for the future of Kenya,� Kenyatta told the recruits.
According to him, more will be done to improve police welfare and support the police for a secured Kenya.
Kenya has suffered a string of terror attacks since it sent troops to war-ravaged Somalia in 2011.
The attacks carried out by Al Shabaab, al Qaeda’s affiliate in Somalia have targeted Nairobi, Mombasa and northern Kenya.
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