Former Chief Justice David Maraga.
Former Chief Justice David Maraga has made public a 2023 report on police and security sector reforms, days after calling on President William Ruto to release the document or allow him to do so.
Maraga chaired the National Taskforce on Improvement of the Terms and Conditions of Service and Other Reforms for Members of the National Police Service, Kenya Prisons Service and National Youth Service, which was appointed by Ruto.
The taskforce submitted its report to the President on November 16, 2023.
However, the report remained unpublished despite the National Police Service Commission saying in October 2024 that it was making progress in implementing some of the recommendations.
On Thursday, August 27, Maraga said it was seven days since he asked Ruto to make the report public, nearly three years after its completion.
"That call remains unanswered. The President had before him the historic occasion of Katiba Day to release this report and set in motion its implementation. He let the moment pass," Maraga said on X.
"I now have the solemn responsibility to make the report public. I am in the final stages of consultation with various stakeholders and shall communicate the next steps in due course," he added.
On Monday, August 31, Maraga shared a link to the full report on his X account, days after opposition leaders criticised the government over its decision to introduce new police uniforms while, they argued, neglecting wider reforms affecting officers' welfare and the service's independence.
Speaking at a press conference in Nairobi, Maraga said one of the key reforms proposed by the taskforce was the designation of the National Police Service as an independent institution free from external influence.
He said a change of police uniform, as important as it may be to officers, was not the central recommendation.
"The current Section 13 and Section 30 (of the National Police Service Act) put the deputies and the director in the presidential stranglehold. That is not reform, that is capture. The taskforce equally called it so," he said.
Maraga said the report contains about 200 recommendations, many of which had not been implemented.
"It called the 2014 amendments unconstitutional; it demanded their repeal and fresh vetting and appointment of officers from senior superintendent of police. That recommendation was ignored," Maraga said.
The publication of the report comes amid renewed debate over police reforms following the recent changes to police uniforms.
Opposition leaders have called for the full implementation of the recommendations, arguing that the report prioritised officers' welfare, institutional reforms and the independence of the National Police Service over changes to uniforms.
"We want our officers to be taught issues on human rights, not matters of uniform," Democratic Party leader Justin Muturi said during a political rally on Friday.
"We are demanding if Ruto does not release that report in Kiganjo, we want our brother Chief Justice Emeritus Maraga to release that report for Kenyans to see," DAP-K leader Eugene Wamalwa added.
Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka said the police training curriculum also needed to be overhauled, particularly in the way officers are trained to handle public demonstrations.
"The constitution says there must be fair recruitment and we also want to see the curriculum at Kiganjo because some are taught how to beat up opposition leaders during campaigns," Kalonzo said.
Maraga centred on similar concerns, arguing that the structure of the police service had left it vulnerable to political influence.
He claimed that police brutality had contributed to at least 3,958 deaths over four years, an average of about 990 deaths annually.
"A number far beyond 4,035 in 10 years, averaging 404 a year," he said.
Maraga called for the repeal of what he described as the 2014 changes to key sections of the law and an overhaul of the recruitment process for senior police officers.
"The answer to this malaise is simple. Repeal the 2014 mutilations of Sections 12, 13 and 30 and end the abuse of Section 80(2) of the Public Service Commission Act. Restore competitive recruitment of the Inspector General, Deputy Inspector General and the Director of Criminal Investigations," Maraga said.
He said the government needed to act on the recommendations if meaningful progress was to be made in addressing alleged police excesses.
Maraga said he had chosen to release the report on the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances.
"It is to those victims who have been abducted and enforced to disappear that I dedicate this report. Dear Kenyans, read the report, interrogate it and let us work together to implement its recommendations," Maraga said.
