Why police rarely receive training after leaving Kiganjo - CS Murkomen

Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen when he appeared before the Senate/SCREENGRAB

Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen has come out to explain why police officers rarely receive training after their pass-out parade at Kiganjo.

Addressing senators when he appeared before them over the controversial death of Albert Ojwang’ while in police custody, Murkomen said the biggest hindrance to training has been lack of resources.

Responding to a question from Tana River Senator Danstan Mungatana, Murkomen, however, noted that there has been progressive growth in the number of officers who are trained after leaving Kiganjo.

Mungatana wanted a clarification on whether police receive regular training on human rights after they are recruited.

“There has been progressive growth in terms of the training of police officers. However, the truth is that, because of a lack of resources, the last training they have is when they were recruited,”Murkomen stated.

Kiganjo Police Training College, part of the National Police Service College, is a main training facility for Kenyan police officers. It focuses on training both new recruits and junior-level managers.

The CS noted only officers in higher cadres and those who get promoted receive training.

“A large number of our police officers do not get promoted,” he explained.

Murkomen added that he has been lobbying for increased budgetary allocation to cater for training.

“One of the things the National Police Service is pushing, and I will help them with it, is to make sure there a budgetary allocation for training of officers,” he said.

“When you have a force of 120, 000 officers, you will have a small number of them violating the Constitution and the laws of the land.”

Ojwang’ was arrested in Homa Bay over a social media post allegedly targeting Deputy Inspector General of Police Eliud Lagat.

He was later transferred to Nairobi’s Central Police Station, where he was found unconscious in his cell and later pronounced dead at Mbagathi Hospital.

An autopsy revealed he died from head injuries, neck compression, and multiple soft tissue trauma—contradicting initial police claims of self-harm.