Law enforcement in Kenya

The Kenya Police Service (KPS) is the primary security and law enforcement agency in Kenya. It is commanded by Deputy Inspector-General (DIG) who reports to the Inspector-General of the National Police Service, fields about 65,000 officers. The General Service Unit (GSU) is a paramilitary wing of KPS and has around 10,000 personnel.

This regular police service is backed up in arid and semi arid rural areas by the Kenya Police Reserve (KPR).

The Administration Police (AP) 25,000 strong, report to the Deputy Inspector General- APS. The AP started out as the native police who reported to the local village headman.[1] In 1929 this was formalised by the Tribal Police Ordinance which also provided for their training under the oversight of the regional agents.[1] Just like the Kenya Police Service, it is led by a Deputy Inspector General. Today the Administration Police is tasked with protective and border security as well as combating cattle theft and containing banditry.

Directorate of Criminal Investigation is a semi autonomous directorate of the National Police Service responsible for investigating complex cases. It is commonly referred to by the initials CID. It is headed by a Director who reports to the Inspector General of Police. Due to the sensitivity of the position, the Director of the CID is appointed by the President of Kenya. The current Director is George Maingi Kinoti who was appointed by President Uhuru Kenyatta on 5 January 2018 to replace Ndegwa Muhoro. Before his appointment he was previously the National Police Spokesman based in the office of the Inspector General of Police. The CID headquarters are located on Kiambu Road, Nairobi.

The General Service Unit (GSU) initially known as the Kenya Police Emergency Company, was established by the colonial government to battle Mau Mau freedom fighters (rebels) during the fight for Kenya's independence.[2] It now has around 11,000 paramilitary of which 2,000 are trained by Israelis (Recce group) that forms most of the Presidential guard, VVIP and Diplomatic protection.

Kenya Prisons Headquarters, Magereza House, Nairobi

Kenya Prisons Service (KPS) is a department within the Ministry of Interior and Coordination of National Government. KPS is established under the Prisons Act Cap 90 and Borstal Institutions Act Cap 92 Laws of Kenya. It is a uniformed disciplined service, headed by the Commissioner General of Prisons (CGP).

Kenya Prisons Service contributes to public safety and security by ensuring there is safe custody of all persons who are lawfully committed to its 129[3] prison facilities, among them Kamiti Maximum Security Prison. It also facilitates the rehabilitation of custodial sentenced offenders for community reintegration.

The current prisoners’ population stands at 54,000 of whom 48% are pre-trial detainees whilst the remaining ones are sentenced prisoners. The staff establishment stands at approximately 22,000, consisting of uniformed officers.

KWS ranger

Kenya Wildlife Service is a state corporation, with a paramilitary wing, is responsible for wildlife conservation and wildlife protection. It consists of the trap unit, air wing unit, anti-poaching unit, scout unit, wildlife intelligence unit, wildlife protection unit and of late dog unit. It is headed by the Director of the Kenya Wildlife Service. During Richard Leakey's tenure as director in the early 1990s poaching was almost eliminated, but gradually enforcement relaxed and poaching again became a problem with significant killings of endangered species beginning about 2001, especially affected were the black rhinos.

Chief Conservator, KFS

Kenya Forest Service (KFS) is a state corporation that trains and employs armed rangers to protect the forests and enforce revenue measures. Among their duties the rangers enforce the eviction of squatters from the forests.

Among the responsibilities of the Kenya Forest Service are:

• To own, manage and protect all state forests
• To promote forestry education and training and operate the Kenya Forestry College
• To enforce the conditions and regulations pertaining to logging, charcoal making and other forest utilisation activities
• To apprehend and prosecute violators of forest law and regulations
• To collect revenues from exploitation of forest products

National Youth Service marching on street in Nakuru

National Youth Service (NYS) is an organisation under the National Government of Kenya. It was established in 1964 to train young people in important national matters. In 2019, the organization was transformed from a state department to a fully fledged semi-autonomous state corporation after enactment of NYS act, 2018 [4]] by the Kenyan parliament.

The National Youth Service, which is administered by the Office of the President, provides some paramilitary training to young job trainees. These young people provide national service to the country. They are later enrolled for technical and vocational training. They also form a cadre of Kenya military reserves.

Machakos County Inspectorate Vehicle

County enforcement departments are based on each of the 47 County Governments. They are established under The County Law Compliance and Enforcement Bill, 2018. These Inspectorates enforce and ensure compliance of County laws and other relevant laws, provide security services to County properties, VIP protection and installations and investigate crimes related to the County. They also manage the prosecutorial process in line with county legislation, carry out environmental supervision over the management of waste disposal. Besides their core mandates of enforcing compliance by managing County regulations and bylaws, Inspectorates also offer secondary support to services that are primarily the preserve Theof national government e.g. county traffic control and security. The officers of the department are trained to be friendly to the people they serve, also to take charge of security operations in the county by efficiently and effectively responding to emergencies.