Mudavadi: Govt to equip police with cameras in new reforms
Prime Cabinet Secretary and Cabinet Secretary for Foreign and Diaspora Affairs Musalia Mudavadi has revealed that the government is working on a plan to equip police officers with cameras as part of broader reforms aimed at enhancing accountability and transparency in law enforcement.
Speaking at a local TV station on Sunday night, July 13, 2024, Mudavadi noted that the camera technology will help in monitoring operations and establishing facts during incidents involving law enforcement.
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“As we change the policing process and how it is done, we want to equip police with cameras so that they can also know whether you are the provocateur or not. Configured, and they are being looked at from somewhere,” he stated.
Mudavadi acknowledged that the pace of police reform needs to be accelerated but emphasised that meaningful change requires careful planning and investment.
“Police reform is a process. Remember when we used to call them the police commissioner and how he was elected? We used to have a situation where a commissioner could be appointed in the afternoon and dismissed the next week. We never had a body to deal with oversight of the police problems (IPOA); it is now there,” he said.
“We now have the National Police Service commission to define and work on matters of police. The budget of the police was tied to the office of the president, which has been desegregated; they now have their budget,” he said.
Other reforms
On matters of human rights, Mudavadi stressed the importance of proper training and ethical orientation for officers.
“We have to continue inducting police and training them in terms of handling matters of human rights. This is why we have Kiganjo; we have to look at the recruitment, curriculum, training, and equipping of the police,” he said.
He reiterated that sustainable reform must be supported with resources and public goodwill.
“When we talk about police reforms, we must understand that it is a process that costs money. It needs a budgetary process, which has to be done systematically,” he added.
This comes a few days after Boniface Mwangi Kariuki, a 22-year-old mask vendor who was shot in the head by police in an unprovoked attack, was laid to rest following a burial service at the Githunguri grounds in Kangema Constituency, Murang’a County.
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