NAIROBI, Kenya – Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen on Friday rolled out a new reform package for chiefs and assistant chiefs, promising promotions, salary adjustments, structured training, and stronger security roles for grassroots administrators.
The reforms include new uniforms, motorcycles, and vehicles to support their field duties, alongside measures to improve their welfare and working conditions.
Training after decades of neglect
Murkomen announced that all 8,102 chiefs will undergo a three-week paralegal and security management course, with the first batch of 1,000 already identified.
For some administrators, it will be their first formal training in more than 25 years.
A select group of chiefs from North Eastern and Rift Valley will also receive paramilitary instruction, be enrolled as National Police Reservists, and later be issued with firearms after advanced training.
Modules will cover crime prevention, land dispute resolution, environmental conservation, and inter-agency cooperation.
“We have started with your training, which will be followed immediately by promotions. Welfare matters will be addressed,” Murkomen said, describing chiefs as “critical to the country’s governance and security architecture.”
Promotions and welfare boost
The CS said 87 chiefs and 58 assistant chiefs have already been promoted this year and promised immediate promotions for those completing the new training, in line with Public Service Commission regulations.
He criticized past governments for neglecting chiefs’ training needs, saying President William Ruto’s bottom-up economic model relies heavily on empowered grassroots officers.
“We are committed to upgrading the offices and the living conditions of these chiefs so that when citizens come to be served, they can feel they are in the Office of the President,” he added.
Uniforms, transport, and police support restored
Murkomen also dispatched thousands of new uniform sets to counties, pledged to expand the government’s vehicle-leasing programme, and said chiefs will now receive motorcycles for field operations.
He further introduced standard operating procedures to guide relations between chiefs and the National Government Administration Police Unit (NGAPU), which currently has 6,000 officers but is set to grow to 19,000 through phased recruitment.
The reforms reverse a 2018 policy that stripped chiefs of direct police support, which critics said left them unable to effectively tackle crime, illicit alcohol, and inter-community violence. President Ruto ordered its restoration last year.
“I was surprised that chiefs and assistant chiefs are given standard sizes of shoes … as well as uniforms without measurements. We will be deliberate and begin taking measurements and ensure we distribute them to the counties instead of you travelling to Nairobi,” Murkomen said.
The latest measures mark the most significant overhaul of grassroots administration in nearly a decade, placing chiefs back at the centre of both security management and service delivery in Kenya’s villages.
