Kenya at Fifty: State Policing Reforms, Politics, and Law, 1963–2013

Abstract

As Kenya transited from a colony to an independent government, part of the fundamental issues preceding the full transfer of power was the debate on leadership and the structure of police intelligence. The debate was settled, or so it appeared, when a Cabinet resolution in October 1963 stipulated that the director of intelligence would be replaced by an African before independence (Throup, 1992). However, it was Prime Minister Kenyatta’s decision not to implement the Africanization of the command of police intelligence despite the Cabinet decision. Kenyatta had come to trust the existing police structure owing to the critical role played by the Special Branch during the shifta incursions in Northern Kenya (Throup, 1992). Continuities from the colonial government into the Kenyatta government were not only reflected in the leadership but they transcended the institution of the police as a whole. Africanization of the leadership of the police would not take place until 1965 when Commissioner Catling retired but even then no comprehensive reform of the policing system was undertaken to meet the aspirations of the majority of the African population.’ The independence government inherited a police force from the former colonial government comprising the same structure and composition and to a large extent the same objectives and modus operandi, namely to protect the interest of the administration.