Police organisation
National Police Service
Kenya’s national police service, constituted by the National Police Service Act and comprising the Kenya Police Service, the Administration Police Service and the Directorate of Criminal Investigations.
At a glance
- Official name
- National Police Service (NPS)
- System
- Kenya
- Level of government
- National
- Kind of body
- National police force
- Status
- Currently operating
- Facts last checked against sources
- 13 September 2026
What it is
The National Police Service Act establishes an Internal Affairs Unit within the Service, headed by an assistant Inspector-General reporting directly to the Inspector-General, and provides that the Unit "shall not be subject to the control, direction or command of the Kenya Police, Administration Police or the Directorate". That provision names the three components of the Service, and shows the Service as a single structure containing them rather than as three separate forces.
What it covers
Kenya, as a single national service containing the three component bodies the Act names.
Broad responsibilities
- National policing through the Kenya Police Service, the Administration Police Service and the Directorate of Criminal Investigations
- Receiving and investigating complaints against the police, through the Internal Affairs Unit
Who it answers to
The Internal Affairs Unit reports through an assistant Inspector-General directly to the Inspector-General, and is insulated by statute from the command of the three component services.
Elsewhere on this site
- Who polices what — how Kenya is structured, against other systems
Where this connects
Institutions: National police.
Sources
National Police Service Act (Cap. 84), Laws of Kenya — section 87, Internal Affairs Unit
National Council for Law Reporting (Kenya Law) · Legislation · 2011 · link verified 2026-08-25
Section 87 of the National Police Service Act, in the consolidated version as at 15 September 2023, now cited as Cap. 84. Supports: that an Internal Affairs Unit is established within the National Police Service, headed by an assistant Inspector-General and reporting through that officer directly to the Inspector-General; that its functions are to receive and investigate complaints against the police, to promote uniform standards of discipline and good order in the Service, and to keep a record of complaints and investigations; that it recommends disciplinary action to the Inspector-General and does not itself impose discipline, save that the Inspector-General may in exceptional cases authorise it to undertake disciplinary proceedings; and that "the Unit shall not be subject to the control, direction or command of the Kenya Police, Administration Police or the Directorate". Cited for the Unit’s internal position and its statutory insulation from operational command. It is the only statutory body named "Internal Affairs" established in the Wave 7 research, and is not evidence of a global institution family.