Law enforcement in Kenya

(1) The Kenya Police Service as established under Article 243 (2) (a) of the Constitution of Kenya.

(2) The Administration Police Service as established under Article 243 (2) (b) of the Constitution of Kenya.

(3) The Directorate of Criminal Investigations as established under Section 28 of the National Police Service Act, 2011.

(4) The Internal Affairs Unit as established under Section of the 87 (9),(10) of the National Police Service Act, 2011.

The Kenya Police Service (KPS) is the primary security and law enforcement agency in Kenya. It is commanded by Deputy Inspector-General (DIG) who reports to the Inspector-General of the National Police Service, fields about 65,000 officers. The General Service Unit (GSU) is a paramilitary wing of KPS and has around 10,000 personnel.

This regular police service is backed up in rural areas by the Kenya Police Reserve (KPR).

The Administration Police (AP) 25,000 strong, report to the Deputy Inspector General- APS. The AP started out as the native police who reported to the local village headman.[1] In 1929 this was formalised by the Tribal Police Ordinance which also provided for their training under the oversight of the regional agents.[1]

Today the Administration Police is tasked with protective and border security as well as combating cattle theft and containing banditry.

Directorate of Criminal Investigation is a semi autonomous directorate of the National Police Service responsible for investigating complex cases. It is commonly referred to by the initials CID. It is headed by a Director who reports to the Inspector General of Police. Due to the sensitivity of the position, the Director of the CID is appointed by the President of Kenya. The current Director is George Maingi Kinoti who was appointed by President Uhuru Kenyatta on 5 January 2018 to replace Ndegwa Muhoro. Before his appointment he was previously the National Police Spokesman based in the office of the Inspector General of Police. The CID headquarters are located on Kiambu Road, Nairobi.

The General Service Unit (GSU) initially known as the Kenya Police Emergency Company, was established by the colonial government to battle Mau Mau freedom fighters (rebels) during the fight for Kenya's independence.[2] It now has around 11,000 paramilitary of which 2,000 are trained by Israelis (Recce group) that forms most of the Presidential guard, VVIP and Diplomatic protection.

Inspectorate Vehicle Machakos County

Kenya Wildlife Service

Kenya Wildlife Service is a state corporation with a paramilitary wing is responsible with wildlife conservation and general protection. It consists of the trap unit, air wing unit, anti-poaching unit, scout unit, wildlife intelligence unit, wildlife protection unit and of late dog unit. It is headed by the Director of the Kenya Wildlife Service. During Richard Leakey's tenure as director in the early 1990s poaching was almost eliminated, but gradually enforcement relaxed and poaching again became a problem with significant killings of endangered species beginning about 2001, especially affected were the black rhinos.

The Kenya Forest Service

Kenya Forest Service (KFS) employs rangers to protect the forests and enforce revenue measures. Among their duties the rangers enforce the eviction of squatters from the forests.

National Youth Service (NYS)

Finally, the National Youth Service, which is administered by the Office of the President, provides some paramilitary training to young job trainees and numbers about 15,000.

Kenya Prisons Service

Kenya Prisons Service (KPS) is a department within the Ministry of Interior and Coordination of National Government. As a uniformed and disciplined entity, KPS is established under the Prisons Act Cap 90 and Borstal Institutions Act Cap 92 Laws of Kenya. KPS is headed by the Commissioner General of Prisons (CGP).

Kenya Prisons Service contributes to public safety and security by ensuring there is safe custody of all persons who are lawfully committed to prison facilities, as well as facilitating the rehabilitation of custodial sentenced offenders for community reintegration.

The current prisoners’ population stands at 54,000 of whom 48% are pre-trial detainees whilst the remaining ones are sentenced prisoners. The staff establishment stands at approximately 22,000, consisting of uniformed officers.

National Intelligence Service (Kenya) (NIS) was previously known as the National Security Intelligence Service (NSIS) [3] which had its origins in "Special Branch" a department of the national police that was created in 1952 under the British administration.[4] Among other things it provided intelligence during the Mau Mau Uprising.[4] In 1963 with independence approaching Special Branch was made independent from the police and in 1969 it was given a new charter.[4] It wasn't until 1986 that it was transformed into the Directorate of Security Intelligence (DSI).[4]

In 1998, a new act of Parliament in Kenya established the National Security Intelligence Service (NSIS) to replace the former Directorate of Security Intelligence which at the time was still colloquially known as "Special Branch".[5] The first director general (DG) of the new service was retired Brigadier Wilson A.C. Boinett who served until 2006, when he was replaced with Major-General Michael Gichangi.[4] In January 2011 Gichangi was appointed to a second five-year term.[6]

NSIS's intelligence gathering work includes: internal, external and strategic intelligence. The NSIS is charged with identifying conditions that threaten Kenya's political, economic and social stability. It develops techniques and strategies to neutralise such threats. The NSIS director is the national security advisor to the president of Kenya.[4]

The NSIS was relocated from the notorious offices of Special Branch at Nyati House to new headquarters on the outskirts of the city, near the Windsor Golf and Country Hotel. In April 1999, the Moi government appointed Mrs Pamela Mboya, the former Permanent representative to the Habitat, to head a Committee that was charged with formulating a scheme of service for NSIS officers.

Security of tenure given the director general of NSIS is designed to protect him from such abuse by members of the governing elite. He has the opportunity to say 'no' to any unlawful or sectarian instructions from his bosses without fear of losing his job.

NSIS is divided into seven sections:

• 1. Administration under the director of administration,
• 2. Information technology under the director of information technology
• 3. Internal intelligence under the director of internal intelligence
• 4. External intelligence under the director of external intelligence
• 5. Analysis & production under the director of economic affairs
• 6. Operations under the director of operations
• 7. National Intelligence Academy under its own director

• Kenya Defence Forces
• Kenya Coast Guard Service
• Corruption in Kenya
• Crime in Kenya

• Kenya Police website
• Administration Police
• World Police Encyclopedia article on Kenyan police force
• Kenya National Security Intelligence Service