In pursuit of democratic policing
| DOI | 10.1177/1461355715580915 |
| Published date | 01 June 2015 |
| Author | Kempe Ronald Hope |
| Date | 01 June 2015 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Article
In pursuit of democratic policing:
An analytical review and assessment
of police reforms in Kenya
Kempe Ronald Hope, Sr
Development Practice International, Oakville, Ontario, Canada
Abstract
Police reforms in Kenya took on a new impetus following the unprofessional and unethical behaviour of the police in their
response to the violence that followed the country’s presidential elections in December 2007. Against that backdrop
there was a clamour for police reforms that pursued democratic policing to re-orient the police force into a national
police service that acted professionally, respected human rights and the rule of law, and served in the interest of all
Kenyans. This article outlines, describes, and analytically reviews and assesses the outcomes of the police reforms that
have been implemented, in that regard, over the past six years in Kenya. It finds some key achievements in police
reforms. However, it also finds there is still a far way to go to rid the police of their bad habits. Corruption, brutality,
the sometimes senseless and wanton use of firearms, for example, are still rampant and are inconsistent with
democratic policing.
Keywords
Kenya, police reforms, policing institutional architecture
Submitted 01 Nov 2014, accepted 13 Mar 2015
Introduction
Although Kenya has engaged in some attempts at police
reforms over the past several decades, this article is con-
cerned only with those reforms that have led to the current
policing institutional architecture – as described below –
and beyond. A major objective of that police reforms pro-
cess has been to provide a policy, legal and institutional
framework to enable transformation of the police service
into a professional and accountable security agency that
can effectively and efficiently deliver on its mandate in the
context of democratic policing. The basic tenets of demo-
cratic policing require the police to, among other things:
uphold the law; be accountable to democratic oversight
institutions outside their organization that are specifically
designated and empowered to regulate police activity; be
accountable to the communities they serve; be ethical and
transparent in their activities; give the highest operational
priority to protecting the safety and rights of individuals;
be representative of the community they serve; and to seek
to build professional skills and conditions of service that
support efficient and respectful service delivery to the
public. This article outlines, describes, and analytically
reviews and assesses the police reforms that have been
implemented over the past six years in Kenya, and their
outcomes.
Development and implementation
of police reforms in Kenya
Kenya’s current police reforms programme is the largest in
Africa, after that of South Africa, in terms of both scope
and commitment of donor funding. The catalyst for the cur-
rent police reforms can be traced back primarily to recom-
mendations contained in the Report of the National Task
Force on Police Reforms (The Ransley Report) (Republic
Corresponding author:
Kempe Ronald Hope, Sr, Development Practice International, PO Box
30002, Oakville, Ontario L6H 7L8, Canada.
Email: hopekr@dpiintl.ca
International Journalof
Police Science & Management
2015, Vol. 17(2) 91–97
ªThe Author(s) 2015
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DOI: 10.1177/1461355715580915
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