Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen on Friday directed that chiefs who have degrees be promoted and named Assistant County Commissioners (ACC).
He also directed that every sub-county should have two Principal Chiefs to enhance service delivery.
Murkomen spoke in Tana River during the ongoing tour of the Coastal region.
He said a fully-fledged Tana River County headquarters will be constructed in the next financial year.
He added that the government is considering arming chiefs in frontier and banditry-prone counties to counter attacks from criminal elements, including al-Shabaab extremists.
“Corners in the frontline where we have established that chiefs are under imminent and persistent attack should have their chiefs armed. They will undergo another training at the Administration Police Training Campus (APTC),” said the CS.
Murkomen directed that personnel transfer to operation/ marginalized areas should not be used as a punishment and personnel should not serve in operation areas for more than three years.
He said security personnel who have overstayed in Tana River and other frontier counties/ marginalized areas/ operation areas to be transferred immediately and not later than three months.
“I have directed that all police officers who have served in Tana River and other frontline counties for more than three years be transferred immediately and not later than three months,” he said.
The CS received complaints from some officers who said they had stayed in the area for up to 14 years. He said he is aware that the shortage of personnel has affected the smooth implementation of the rotation of officers and that some have stayed in difficult operational areas for too long.
The planned recruitment of 10,000 police officers and rationalization, as well as a stricter implementation of the rotation policy, will help cure the problem of overstaying in one station, he said.
He said they are on course with the modernization program, which includes police and administrators’ welfare.
These reforms, which include the provision of more vehicles and better living conditions, will be implemented across the board so that no part of our country should be seen by any officer as a punishment post.
During the meeting in Tana River, residents identified boundary disputes due to scarce natural resources such as water, tribal conflicts emanating from distribution of leadership roles, and adverse effects of climate change, which cause floods and famine as recurring challenges.
