Police officers in Nairobi have been forced to dig into their pockets to purchase the new uniforms. This is after the government failed to supply uniforms to all units then passed the responsibility to individual officers. Nairobi regional commander Rashid Yakub warned officers of disciplinary action incase one dares to report in old uniforms. “All officers must be in the new medium blue uniform, except for the formed-up units who have their own order of dressing. In addition, all officers are cautioned against mixing uniforms, or wearing non-uniform items alongside the uniform. Failure to comply with these instructions will attract serious disciplinary action,”Yakub said last Friday. On Monday, police officers who had not secured the new set of uniforms were turned away from duty.
That is after they had been given the last warning but still showed up at work in old set. They were turned at the gate. Thwarted officers accused their bosses of forcing them to incur an unnecessary expenses. “This is unfair because we have not been given allowances to cater for them. This is government’s responsibility.” one officer complained The officers also complained that the new uniforms do not come cheap as tailors charge between Sh3,000 and Sh5,000 for a pair. Mr Yakub’s directive has caused uneasiness in the service as many officers are still waiting to receive their batches since the distribution began in late 2018. The directive also also contradicts Inspector General Hillary Mutyambai's approval of the old uniform last week. On September 7, Mutyambai said the uniforms will be distributed in batches, depending on the availability of resources.