Former Chief Justice David Maraga has given President William Ruto seven days to release and publish the report of the National Taskforce on Police Reforms, warning that he will make the document public himself if the government fails to do so.
In a letter dated August 18, 2026, Maraga, who chaired the taskforce, said the report had been submitted to the President on November 16, 2023, but its recommendations had yet to be fully implemented.
“I demand that you immediately release and publish the complete and unedited Taskforce Report within Seven (7) days, failing which I will myself release it,” Maraga said in the letter addressed to Ruto.
The former Chief Justice said the report was prepared at public expense and should therefore be accessible to Kenyans in line with constitutional provisions on access to information.
Maraga cited Articles 232, 239, 244 and 245 of the Constitution, as well as Sections 8 and 8A of the National Police Service Act, arguing that the National Police Service is intended to operate as an independent national security organ.
He said the law provides that the service should not be directed by any person, including the President, in the exercise of its operational mandate. Maraga expressed concern over what he described as increasing incidents of police violence, goonism and partisan policing, citing incidents in Homa Bay, Keumbu, Oka and other areas.
He also referred to alleged acts of violence in churches in Kisumu and Nairobi, saying the developments were occurring “under your watch” and had contributed to what he described as a culture of impunity within the National Police Service.
“This is a road the country has travelled before at terrible cost,” Maraga said, warning against a return to past abuses.
According to Maraga, the police reforms taskforce made recommendations intended to strengthen the independence of the National Police Service and address systemic problems within the institution.
He said the recommendations included measures aimed at restoring public confidence in the police and ending what he termed “systemic police brutality and impunity.”
“For now, nearly three years, you have failed to implement the recommendations to restore the independence of the Service,” Maraga said. The demand comes nearly three years after the taskforce handed over its report to the President. The former Chief Justice said the continued withholding of the document was unacceptable because it was produced using public resources. Maraga also linked the release of the report to Article 35 of the Constitution, which guarantees citizens the right to access information held by the State. The former Chief Justice has now placed a seven-day deadline on the President, setting the stage for the report to be released publicly if the government does not act within the specified period. The letter comes amid renewed public debate over police accountability, independence of security institutions and the government’s handling of alleged cases of police misconduct. Maraga’s demand puts renewed focus on the recommendations of the police reforms taskforce and the extent to which successive administrations have acted on proposals intended to reform the National Police Service.