State in Sh1bn Kiganjo police college land expansion

The new details emerge following recent claims that the government planned to relocate national police training services from Kiganjo to West Pokot, which the Ministry of Interior has since renounced.

In a status report detailing the government’s plan, the State says that while the National Police College in Kiganjo has been Kenya’s primary institution for police training for decades, its existing infrastructure “has limitations in providing adequate space for comprehensive training, especially for specialised field exercises, physical training, tactical simulations, and real-world operational drills.”

“The existing infrastructure at Kiganjo faces space and resource limitations. This constrains the ability to conduct large-scale or specialized training, such as live tactical drills, field operations, and advanced law enforcement scenarios and the growing demand for new officers has led to overcrowding, reducing the quality of training due to strained resources,” the NPS says in budget documents.

The Service says these challenges have also hindered its ability to address growing demands for modern, practical police training, including physical preparedness and live-action tactical simulations.

The land is expected to offer a geographically diverse and logistically feasible site for enhanced police training, while also enabling the NPS to train officers on emerging crimes such as in the cybersecurity space.

Over the three years to June 2025, Kiganjo conducted in-service training on just 40 percent of the targeted 29,300 officers, underlining capacity issues that have faced it.

“The acquisition of new training grounds in areas such as Mukogodo, Laikipia County, presents an opportunity to expand training capacity and introduce more diverse training environments,” the NPS says.

“NPC-Kiganjo can improve its curriculum by incorporating training in modern crime-fighting techniques such as cyber-crime investigation, counter-terrorism, and intelligence-led policing,” it adds.

The NPS reckons that Kiganjo NPC has not kept pace with emerging threats such as cyber-crime, which continue to place higher demand on police services.

It notes that the training college needs significant modernization, expansion of training facilities, and integration of new policing technologies, to effectively equip the NPS to handle the emerging threats.

Other than the Sh1 billion set aside for acquisition of the land, the government also plans to spend Sh400 million on the project in the 2027/28 fiscal year, then Sh200 million the year after.

The lack of an allocation during the current fiscal year and the next one, starting July 2026, implies that the government will be handling land acquisition processes, where it projects to face risks including delays in negotiating with landowners and opposition from local communities.

The State, however, believes that acquiring the land will be relevant for it to boost capacity to handle large numbers of recruits, establish a specialized training ground for combat of crimes such as terrorism and insurgencies, and to integrate modern police techniques during training.

“With more space, NPC-Kiganjo can integrate modern policing techniques, including drone training, special operations, and counter-terrorism simulations and the natural environment in Laikipia offers a unique opportunity for field-based, real-world training that cannot be simulated in a more confined or artificial environment,” it says.

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