Kenya is stepping up its fight against drug trafficking and community-level crime by expanding the country’s anti-narcotics investigations team, adding more police reservists and improving security operations across the counties, Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen has said.
Speaking at the passing-out parade of General Service Unit recruits at the National Police College in Embakasi, Nairobi, on Friday, Murkomen said the government had reorganised the Anti-Narcotics Unit into the National Anti-Narcotics Investigations Bureau and added 208 officers to strengthen its work.
He said the government was also in the process of buying vehicles for the new bureau as authorities respond to what they describe as a changing drug threat in the country.
Data from the National Authority for the Campaign Against Alcohol and Drug Abuse shows the scale of the challenge. NACADA estimates that 4.7 million Kenyans aged between 15 and 65 currently use at least one drug or substance.
Its 2025 national policy, which is based on findings from the 2022 survey, shows that about 3.2 million people in the same age group consume alcohol, while 518,807 use cannabis.
Further findings released by NACADA in May 2026 pointed to new forms of drug use and supply. The study found evidence of emerging synthetic drugs, small clandestine laboratories, dangerous substances being added to heroin and cocaine, misuse of prescription medicines and widespread use of several drugs at the same time in 12 hotspot counties.
The study examined 152 samples, comprising 48 wastewater samples and 104 drug samples.
Against this background, the government has moved to strengthen the agency tasked with investigating drug offences while stepping up operations against people involved in the illegal alcohol and drug trade.
“To combat the menace of drug and alcohol abuse, we have revitalized the anti-narcotics unit based on your directive, Your Excellency, transforming it into a national anti-narcotics investigations bureau, recruiting 208 additional officers as you directed last year December, and we are in the process of procuring vehicles to strengthen its operations.”
Murkomen said the strengthened operations had already supported crackdowns targeting drug traffickers, suppliers, illicit brewers and sellers of illegal alcohol.
At the same time, the government is widening its community security network through the National Police Reservist programme.
Murkomen said 700 additional reservists were undergoing training at Magado in Igembe North, Meru County, as part of efforts to increase security coverage at the local level.
He said the government had introduced a human resource management system to keep proper records of reservists and ensure they receive training, supervision and allowances on time.
“To complement the work done by police officers and to ensure greater reach by the security team, we have revitalized the national police reservist by introducing a human resource management system that accounts for all NPRs and ensure that they are timely paid, properly trained, and supervised by the officers commanding stations within their jurisdiction.”
The 700 reservists are expected to complete their training and graduate next week, according to Murkomen.
The government is also working to enrol the reservists in the Social Health Authority, while uniforms and other equipment are being supplied through the National Youth Service.
The measures form part of a wider effort to strengthen community-based policing and improve the response to security problems at the local level.
Murkomen said the Jukwaa la Usalama initiative had been made an established framework for involving communities in security management across all 47 counties.
Under the arrangement, local security committees have been directed to bring together groups such as traders, boda boda operators, religious leaders, business people and young people when addressing security concerns.
“Security is better managed bottom-up rather than top-down approach, which involves security managers merely giving directives to combat the menace,” he said.
The Interior CS also outlined other police reforms aimed at improving training, upgrading regional training centres and making it easier for officers to move and respond to security incidents.
He said 1,175 police vehicles had been replaced over the past year, while another 2,232 vehicles were scheduled for replacement within three months.
Murkomen said the measures were aimed at strengthening the National Police Service as the country prepares for the 2027 General Election.
The expansion of the anti-narcotics and community security operations comes as recent NACADA findings point to new drug threats, including new psychoactive substances and other forms of drug use that require intelligence-led and joint action by security agencies.