Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja has announced plans to establish a specialized Nairobi Metropolitan Police Unit by training 2,500 officers drawn from the Nairobi County Inspectorate and the National Police Service (NPS), in a move aimed at strengthening security across Kenya's capital.
Speaking after a church service at St. Austin's Church in Westlands on Sunday, Sakaja said the officers would undergo intensive training tailored to Nairobi's unique security challenges as part of a broader effort to improve policing and public safety.
He said the initiative, which will be implemented under the Cooperation Agreement between the National and County governments, seeks to shift policing priorities from traffic management to enhanced security patrols and faster emergency response.
"We will train 2,500 police officers from the county and the National Police Service. They will undergo vigorous training to address the security challenges of the city. We need more security patrols in Nairobi than traffic patrols because this is a city of seven million people with unique security needs," Sakaja said.
As part of the reforms, the governor announced that Kamukunji Police Station will be upgraded to serve as the headquarters of the Nairobi Metropolitan Police Unit. The facility will be rehabilitated and expanded to function as the command centre for the new security outfit.
Sakaja also unveiled plans for a citywide surveillance system that will integrate artificial intelligence-powered CCTV cameras with a new Traffic Management Centre (TMC) at City Cabanas along Mombasa Road.
The multi-billion-shilling facility is expected to serve as Nairobi's digital command centre, combining police monitoring operations, AI-enabled surveillance and automated traffic enforcement under one platform.
According to the governor, the surveillance network will extend beyond public infrastructure by incorporating CCTV cameras installed by private businesses and institutions to improve crime detection and emergency response.
"The use of cameras will be key. City Cabanas will host Nairobi's new digital traffic nerve hub, and we will integrate it with private cameras to improve security and enhance response to incidents across the city," he said.
Sakaja said the proposed security architecture draws from successful metropolitan policing models in other global cities. He disclosed that he recently travelled with the Cabinet Secretary for Interior to New York and London to study how the two cities manage urban security.
"We have already benchmarked in New York and London as we seek to move our country forward. One of the most critical issues in any city is security, and that is why we are implementing this under the Cooperation Agreement with the National Government," he said.
The governor said the reforms are part of a wider collaboration between the National Government and Nairobi County to modernise the capital's security infrastructure, expand the use of surveillance technology and improve public safety for the city's growing daytime population, which he said exceeds seven million people.