The National Police Service Examination Board has been set up to administer the exams as a way of ending cases of discrimination and corruption in the promotion of officers.
Beginning May 2019, there will be no automatic promotion but all officers seeking to be considered for progression will have to take an exam.
According to outgoing Inspector General of Police Joseph Boinnet the exams will be administered by the National Police Service Examination Board to create transparency and reward meritocracy in the service.
A tweet by the National Police Service – Kenya says “It also establishes an examination system for NPS that ensures examinations are standard, uniformly applied, professionally managed and with high levels of integrity.”
The decision to have all officers trained through a similar curriculum as well as battled it out for better job rankings was informed by the need for the citizenry to receive quality services in line with the global policing standards.
The new initiative termed timely and will ensure competency in strengthening the work output of the officers.
The exams have been billed as the only way to end corruption in police promotions and also create a culture of constantly improving competencies among officers.