The government has reaffirmed it commitment to ensure the ongoing reforms within the security sector continues unhindered to achieve its objective.
Interior Principal Secretary Raymond Omollo stressed that for police officers to appropriately deliver on their mandate they should be accorded better working conditions.
He said, “There can be no development without security. Police officers, like all Kenyans, deserve decent working conditions, and we must facilitate them."
"We will continue on the Police Reform trajectory.”
His remarks come in the wake of a ruling by Justice Lawrence Mugambi.
In a ruling delivered on Thursday, Justice Mugambi said that the President erred in appointing the task force by duplicating the functions of the National Police Service Commission (NPSC).
The judge found that the President had no mandate to establish a task force on police reforms, overstepping the role of the NPSC.
The Taskforce recommended several reforms currently under implementation in the National Police Service, prison service and NYS, all aimed at improving the welfare of the officers.
This includes housing, acquisition of equipment, adoption of technology and human resource reforms.
The judge also ruled that, since the task force is unlawful, any decisions or actions made by it are likewise invalid.
PS Omollo who also acts as the chairperson of the National Steering Committee on Implementation of the Maraga Taskforce Reforms sought to clarify that these reforms were part of president Ruto's campaign pledge.
"When the president was campaigning, one of his biggest commitments was to support the security sector, and one of his first assignments in office was to set up a team to look into the terms of service not only for police but also prison and NYS," he explained.
He said the reforms process, which had been delayed for several years, would continue for the next 10 years.
"We are now at 50 per cent of it," he said.
Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen also took issue with the High Court verdict.
The CS said the ruling is unfavourable to officers who are facing numerous challenges that the Maraga-led Police Reforms taskforce sought to address.
"Courts should be considerate about the welfare of police officers," said CS Murkomen.
Speaking at Mwatate, Taita Taveta County, the CS condemned the ruling.
"It’s unbelievable that a judge assigned officers with similar issues being shared across the country would declare a taskforce looking into the officers' welfare unconstitutional,” he said.
