President Uhuru Kenyatta has ordered 10,000 police recruits to immediately report to the Police Training College in Kiganjo in Nyeri County. The enrollment was brought to a halt by the the High court last year on the grounds that the July 14, 2014 recruitment was tainted with corruption, irregularities and blatant violations of the Constitution.
The announcement came hours after Somali terror group Al-Shabaab, an al Qaeda affiliate, attacked students at Garissa University leaving many students dead and others injured.
Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for the attack.
President Kenyatta blamed the insecurity in the country on a shortage of police officers and directed that the recruits start training immediately.
“I further direct the Inspector-General of Police to take urgent steps and ensure that the 10,000 recruits, whose enrolment is pending, promptly report for training at the Kenya Police College, Kiganjo,” President Kenyatta said in a televised address to the nation in the wake of Thursday’s dawn attack on Garissa University College.
The Kenya Police Service Commission has since appealed the court decision and the matter is still pending in court.
President Kenyatta confirmed that the attack had left several students dead, wounded or taken hostage by the gunmen but said full details of casualties would be released by Interior Cabinet Secretary Joseph Nkaissery and Inspector-General of Police Joseph Boinnet, who were coordinating the manhunt for the attackers.
He assured Kenyans that adequate security officers had been deployed to the college to fight the terrorists but called on Kenyans to volunteer any information they may have in connection with any security threats.
