Interior Principal Secretary Dr. Raymond Omollo led a high-level Kenyan delegation to Rome, Italy, on a benchmarking mission aimed at informing the establishment of the Nairobi Metropolitan Police Unit.
Omollo was accompanied by among others the proposed head of Nairobi Metropolitan Police Unit Tom Odero and Deputy Principal to the Deputy Inspector General of Administration Police Masood Mwinyi and others senior officers.
The visit seeks to draw lessons from Italy’s internal security architecture, which is widely recognized for its multi-agency and layered approach to public safety.
Italy’s Ministry of Interior plays a central role in coordinating public security, policing, migration management, public order, civil protection, and territorial administration.
During the mission, the delegation will engage with Italian security institutions to understand how Rome manages security in a complex urban environment.
The lessons drawn from Rome’s security model will support ongoing Government efforts to strengthen urban security and operational coordination in Nairobi through the planned Nairobi Metropolitan Police Unit, with the goal of enhancing public safety, crime prevention, emergency response, and service delivery to residents, officials said.
The teams also plan to visit Tokyo for similar missions amid concerns the models there are different from the Kenya one.
Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkome, Deputy Inspector of Kenya Police Eliud Lagat and his Administration Police counterpart Gilbert Masengeli and Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja last week visited New York and London for similar missions.
The visits come ahead of the establishment of the Nairobi Metropolitan Police Unit, a strategic intervention to bolster security, maintain public order, combat emerging criminal threats, and ensure overall safety in the city and its satellite towns.
As one of Africa’s fastest growing metropolitan centres, Nairobi has in recent years faced evolving and increasingly complex security threats.
In response, President William Ruto in February directed the establishment of the Nairobi Metropolitan Police Unit (NMPU) to combat insecurity and safeguard economic interests in the city.
The unit, expected to begin operations by July, will focus on smart policing, visible patrols, and mandatory body cameras for officers.
The proposal is also likely to spark constitutional debate, as policing is currently a national government function under Kenyan law.
