Japheth Koome was sworn in as Kenya’s fourth Inspector General of Police on Friday.
Koome took his oath of office at the Supreme Court, which was presided over by Chief Justice Martha Koome.
Japheth Koome replaces Noor Gabow, who has been acting in the position since Hilary Mutyambai’s early retirement due to health issues.
Koome has spent the last 31 years as a police officer. After receiving his bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from the University of Nairobi in 1990, he joined the former Kenya Police Force as a police constable in 1991.
After graduating from the nation’s top police training facility and performing beat and patrol duties as a police constable in Nairobi, Koome was assigned to the Anti Stock Theft Unit (ASTU) in Gilgil. Following that, Koome was promoted from constable to inspector, and by 1998, he had been gazetted as a superintendent of police.
Koome was then assigned to the Buru Buru police division, where he served as deputy divisional commander before returning to general duty. He also served as the OCPD for Machakos, Maragua, Buru Buru, and Central in Nairobi, where he dealt with armed criminal gangs in the city’s Eastlands and a wave of bank robberies.
During his ten years as director of planning, Koome oversaw significant changes in the contentious areas of police housing and infrastructure development.
Koome previously served as Commandant of the National Police College Main Campus-Kiganjo, Principal Assistant to the Deputy Inspector General at Vigilance House, and Head of the Nairobi Police Department.
Koome has promised to deal with criminal gangs that are terrorizing residents while also working to streamline the police force.
” 98 per cent of our police officers are professional and we are being assisted by IPOA and other oversight bodies to manage the 2 per cent. I will not allow criminals to harm Kenyans with weapons or knives,” he said.
Koome takes over the National Police Service as an independent command, reorganizing it into a police force responsive to the needs of all Kenyans in terms of public safety and security.
