Kenya’s law enforcement system is struggling to cope as the National Police Service faces a massive shortage of officers, raising concerns over public safety and law enforcement effectiveness.
A recent audit by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission reveals that more than 200,000 positions are vacant, leaving security operations overstretched across urban and rural areas.
The report attributes the gap to years of officers leaving without replacement, whether through resignations, dismissals, transfers to non-policing roles, or natural attrition. The Kenya Police Service alone lost 3,229 officers over the past three years.
“According to the NPS strategic plan 2023/2027, the authorised staff establishment for uniformed officers was 306,590, with in post of 106,469 officers at the time of the audit, resulting into a variance of 200,121,” reads the audit.
Official data from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics confirms the decline. Police numbers fell from 92,350 in 2023 to 88,483 in 2024, while the combined strength of the Kenya Police and Administration Police dropped from 108,013 to 104,080 officers in the same period.
The prisons department has also been affected, with the number of officers falling by 590, from 31,149 in 2023 to 30,559 in 2024. Analysts say the three-year freeze on police recruitment has strained policing in crowded towns, sprawling rural areas, and along remote borders.
The shortage comes at a time of growing security demands, including deployments to conflict areas like Haiti. A government effort to recruit additional officers was recently blocked by a court, but Interior CS Kipchumba Murkomen has confirmed plans to hire at least 10,000 officers to address the gap.
Kenya’s officer-to-citizen ratio remains below the international standard of one officer per 454 citizens, making it difficult to respond effectively to crime and emergencies. In court filings, Kanja requested the lifting of the recruitment freeze, while Eliud Matindi challenged the legality of the planned exercise.
The EACC audit further highlights deep corruption in the recruitment process. The report states that most positions are controlled by wealthy individuals, politicians, and senior officers.
“Whenever the recruitment of police constables is announced, cartels and rogue officers collude to divide the available positions among themselves and offer them to the highest bidders,” it says. Many qualified candidates are forced to pay bribes to join the service, leaving merit sidelined.
Beyond staffing, the audit exposes systemic weaknesses in policies, procedures, and operational practices that allow unethical behavior to thrive, undermining trust and effectiveness in Kenya’s police service. The findings were released yesterday at the National Police Leadership Academy in Nairobi.
