New police officers will join the National Police Service with improved pay, equipment, healthcare and insurance as the government steps up efforts to strengthen the force and address long-standing staffing and resource gaps.
Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen said the government was investing in the welfare and working conditions of police officers, arguing that a well-supported workforce remained central to the country’s security.
Speaking during the 59th Administration Police Recruits Passing-Out Parade at the National Police College, Embakasi ‘A’ Campus in Nairobi on Friday, Murkomen said equipment alone could not guarantee effective security operations without officers on the ground.
“In the security sector, despite the fact that we need equipment, the most critical resource is the human resource. Our officers are the most valuable asset in this sector, without whom, Your Excellency, no equipment, no apparatus, nothing can be deployed without the personal presence of the troops on the ground,” Murkomen said.
His remarks come as the government seeks to increase police numbers following years of staffing shortages across the country.
The National Police Service Commission (NPSC) has put the police-to-civilian ratio at about one officer for every 688 people and proposed the recruitment of 10,000 police constables to boost the numbers.
However, figures contained in the latest Kenya National Bureau of Statistics Economic Survey show that the National Police Service had 101,650 officers in 2025.
The number included 68,493 Kenya Police officers, 25,697 Administration Police officers and 7,460 officers serving in the Directorate of Criminal Investigations.
The overall police-to-civilian ratio improved to one officer for every 525 people in 2025, while 96,038 crimes were reported to the National Police Service during the same year.
The government expanded recruitment after the service went for nearly five years without taking in new officers, a period that contributed to staffing shortages in various parts of the country.
Beyond recruitment, Murkomen said the government was also upgrading equipment used by officers, particularly those deployed in high-risk areas.
Administration Police officers in specialised units, including the Border Police Unit, Special Operations Group, Rapid Deployment Unit and Anti-Stock Theft Unit, operate in areas affected by banditry, terrorism and other security threats.
“As such, they have benefited immensely from the modernisation programme that will ensure that we have protective equipment that is protecting our officers, even as they serve, to ensure that their lives are protected,” he said.
Murkomen said the investment in the service also covered healthcare, insurance, salaries and mental health support.
“Courtesy of your investment also their welfare has been taken care of. That includes focusing more on mental health, making sure that health facilities are improved, and health access is improved through better insurance cover. But also, their basic salary has been improved significantly,” he said.
He said the newly recruited officers would start their careers on a gross monthly salary of Sh60,000, linking the increase to the government’s Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda.
“So that at entry point, when these officers join the service, they will, for the first time, be entering the service, being paid a gross salary of 60,000 shillings, Your Excellency. That means you are not just a president who promises. You kept your promise under the bottom-up economic transformation agenda,” he said.
The pay increase follows a three-year review of police terms and conditions of service, which the Interior Ministry said was completed in 2026.
The review drew from recommendations made by the National Taskforce on Improvement of the Terms and Conditions of Service and Other Reforms for Members of the National Police Service.
The NPSC has also identified recruitment, stronger human-resource systems, counselling services and implementation of police reform recommendations as areas that require continued investment.
The Commission has previously pointed to retirements, resignations and natural attrition as some of the factors affecting the size of the police service.
Murkomen further raised concern over mental health among officers and other public servants, saying the demands of police work require stronger support systems.
“If there is an area that we need to deal with immensely in our country, is mental health. Public servants are struggling with mental health. Officers are struggling with mental health, and the National Police Service, including when we went around the country to Jukwaa la Usalama, requested that we put more emphasis in mental health challenges,” he said.
He called on police commanders and supervisors to create an environment where officers can seek help when dealing with mental health challenges.
“We want to ask our OCSs and those who supervise police officers to become more courteous and engaging, and understand the officers when they have mental health challenges. It is not necessary to hear that a police officer has committed suicide or killed his family members or killed their colleagues because they were struggling with mental health, and we ignored. Let us be each other's keeper. We are brothers' keeper, the sisters' keeper. The welfare of each one of us is important to all of us.”
Murkomen said continued spending on recruitment, equipment, pay, healthcare and mental health support would be necessary to build a police service that is better prepared and protected, particularly for officers working in high-risk areas.