London, March 20, 2019 (AltAfrica)-Police authorities in Kenya are on Tuesday celebrating the completion of the the first step of digitization of police operations including biometric registration

With the biometric registration, the new record shows Kenya has 101,288 policemen and women, according State House report

Spokesperson Kanze Dena said a report on the exercise, as part of the implementation of the new National Police Service Information Management System, was handed to President Uhuru Kenyatta by Interior minister Fred Matiang’i.

“The system contains the details of officers of all ranks within the Administration Police Service, the Kenya Police Service and the Department of Criminal Investigations,” Ms Dena noted.

It has details such as a police officer’s biometric data, certificate of appointment, national identity card details, Kenya Revenue Authority PIN, family background, academic qualifications, rank and service history.

ELIMINATION FRAUD

Ms Dena said President Uhuru Kenyatta, upon receipt of the report, said he was satisfied with the progress in the implementation of police reforms.

He noted that the exercise was a step in the achievement of professionalism and good governance in the service.

“The system will eliminate fraud associated with manual staff records. It will facilitate the selection, recruitment, and management of police officers and foster fair performance appraisals, transparent deployment and transfers, and merit-based promotions,” the statement said.

“This heralds a new era in police administration and goes a long way in complementing the government’s efforts towards establishing a modern criminal justice infrastructure.”

Ms Dena added that the report indicated the full automation of the Human Resource Management System.

The next steps in the reforms programme are the establishment of a web-based Occurrence Book, automation of instant fines and the finalisation of some police operations by December 31, as directed by President Kenyatta (Agency).