The National Assembly's Committee on Cohesion and Equal Opportunities has directed the National Police Service Commission (NPSC) to enhance counseling services to police officers.
The committee said the move will prevent officers from going through stress and psychological torture in the course of their work.
The team told the NPSC Chief Executive Officer Peter Leley to recruit more professional counselors to provide the much needed services.
During the meeting chaired by Mandera West MP Adan Yusuf Haji, the team said there was urgent need for setting up more counselling centers countrywide to serve the officers.
The committee noted that the current regional counselling centers were not adequate to provide services to the increasing number of officers.
Noting that the country was losing many officers through suicide and other challenges, Haji urged the commission to urgently address the matter by dispatching more counsellors to serve the officers.
"The current regional counselling centers are not sufficient enough to provide psychological support to police officers," said the Mandera West MP.
In his submission to the committee, the CEO explained that the commission had during the financial years 2021/2022 and 2022/2023 recruited and deployed 38 counsellors and social workers to the regions and 12 centers.
The centers include Embu and Machakos in the Eastern region, Lamu and Mombasa in the Coast, Kisumu in Nyanza, Nakuru and Eldoret in Rift Valley, Nyeri and Kiambu in Central, Mandera and Marissa in North Eastern, Kakamega in Western and Nairobi regional police, SGB, GSU headquarters and DCI academy in Nairobi region.
Luanda MP Dick Maungu said the centers were too far from the officers.
"It is tough for an officer from my home in Luanda to travel to Kakamega for counseling services. Make such services easily accessible," he said.
Leley told the Committee that the Commission has established five regional offices to enhance efficiency and effectiveness in serving police officers.
The five regional offices are based in Mombasa, Garissa, Kakamega, Kisumu and Nairobi.
"In the 2023/2027 financial year, the commission plans to establish and equip an additional five regional offices," he told the Committee.
