Regional Police Commanders are meeting in Nairobi for a series of meetings with their newly appointed bosses.
Both Deputy Inspector General of Kenya Police Eliud Lagat and his Administration Police Service Counterpart Gilbert Masengeli will separately meet the Regional police bosses for inaugural talks on Monday, officials said.
The DIGs are meeting the officers for the first since they were named and appointed to the positions.
Masengeli is scheduled to meet all the officers on Tuesday, August 6 at the National Police Training Campus in Embakasi as acting Inspector General of police.
There, according to insiders, Masengeli will ask the commanders to work with dedication for the safety of the country.
They will also discuss among others, the planned protests on Thursday, August 8, officials said.
Plans are the protests will be dispersed.
The process of naming the new IG is ongoing. The new IG will succeed Japhet Koome who resigned on July 12.
The new police bosses come to office when the country is facing many challenges in general including joblessness and rising crime.
The role of DIG-KPS involves commanding, controlling, and administering the Kenya Police Service under the direction of the IG.
The DIG-APS is responsible for leading the Administration Police Service and operates under the directions and control of the IG.
They are now tasked with implementing the Justice Maraga report on police reforms.
Who are the new police bosses?
Masengeli- DIG APS
Dr Masengeli boasts of a career spanning 35 years within the National Police Service.
He is skilled in counterterrorism operations, crisis management, strategic security leadership, fraud examination, combating cross-border crimes, countering violent extremism and explosive incident countermeasures, as well as collaborative intelligence.
He joined the NPS in 1989, said.
Before being picked as a DIG APS, Dr Masengeli was the Commandant, National Police College, Embakasi 'A' Campus. He had been appointed to the position on July 12, 2024.
Between 2017 and 2024, Dr Masengeli was the Commanding Officer, of Special Operations Group APS, Border Police Unit (BPU) where he was tasked with the provision of leadership, planning and coordination of multi-agency special security operations.
His role also entailed identifying and analyzing insecurity early warning signs, budgeting and disseminating resources for security operations, and providing guidance and liaison to special operators (SOG).
Other ranks Dr Masengeli has held include Commissioner of Police, Senior Superintendent of Police where he was the Company Commander attached to BPU and also the Commander of the North Eastern Region Forward Operating Base.
In education, Dr Masengeli has a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in International Relations from the United States International University (USIU).
Lagat – DIG KPS
Lagat has a Master's Degree in Armed Conflict and Peace Studies from the University of Nairobi and graduated in 2010.
He has a Bachelor of Technology Automotive and graduated from the University of Eastern Africa, Baraton.
He joined the NPS in 1998 and trained at the Kenya Police College in Kiganjo.
In 2000, he was an Inspector of police attached to the Bomb Disposal and was based at the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) now Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) Training School and DCI Headquarters.
Between 2001 to 2005 he was a forensic investigator still attached to DCI Headquarters.
From 2005 to 2007 he was promoted to the Deputy Head Crime Scene Support Unit based at the DCI Headquarters.
Between 2007 and 2015, Lagat was the Deputy Head- Bomb and Hazardous materials before he was promoted to head the same unit in 2020.
In 2020, he was named the Deputy Director- DCI Reforms Section and was promoted to head the same unit in 2023 while in October 2022 he was named the Director Investigations Bureau a position he held until April 2023 when he was named the Commandant.