Kenya is at risk of losing a multimillion shilling security training programme after officials inside the Ministry of Interior reportedly began frustrating an initiative meant to benefit several agencies across the country.
The programme is part of a three-year partnership between the Ministry of Interior and the United Nations Institute for Training and Research, known as UNITAR, to support the training and professional development of security officers.
The agreement created a plan for capacity building across Kenya’s security sector, with the National Police Service, Directorate of Criminal Investigations, Kenya Prisons Service, Kenya Coast Guard Service and National Government Administration officers expected to benefit.
Officers familiar with the programme say implementation had started well before an official within the ministry began placing unexplained obstacles in the way, threatening work that had already gained momentum.
Training under the partnership is meant to improve leadership, coordination, investigations, border management, institutional performance and the ability of different agencies to work together during security operations.
The programme was meant to bring international trainers, technical support and long term institutional training into agencies that rarely receive such opportunities under one coordinated plan.
Officers now fear that internal resistance at the ministry could delay activities, weaken confidence among the programme’s sponsors and eventually cause Kenya to lose financial and technical support already secured for the security sector.
The exact reason for the obstruction remains unclear, with officers questioning why any official would interfere with a programme that had already received government approval and started benefiting public institutions.
The concern is serious because donor backed programmes depend on deadlines, reporting schedules, approved work plans and cooperation from the government agencies expected to receive the support.
Repeated delays or refusal by ministry officials to complete required steps can lead sponsors to suspend activities, move resources elsewhere or decline to support later phases of the programme.
Kenya would then lose training opportunities meant for thousands of officers, leaving agencies to fund similar work from the national budget or continue operating without the planned skills.
A programme covering the police, DCI, prisons, Coast Guard and national administration cannot be allowed to collapse because one official has decided to frustrate work approved at the highest levels of government.
The officers raising the alarm say the initiative was already rolling out successfully and could improve how security agencies train, share information and respond to threats across the country.
Kenya publicly committed itself to the programme as part of efforts to professionalise the security sector, meaning its failure through internal sabotage would expose serious problems inside the same ministry responsible for delivering it.
The programme now requires immediate attention before delays become permanent and the United Nations redirects the resources to another country willing to complete the work.