Breaking Down Kenya’s Security Reforms in The Northern Communities

When the Kenya Kwanza government took office, its security agenda was rooted in a candid acknowledgment of failure in political interference, corruption, extrajudicial killings, and a police service financially dependent on the Office of the President.

The manifesto’s promise was not just more boots on the ground, but a fundamentally reformed, accountable, and welfare-conscious security sector.

For communities in northern Kenya long scarred by cattle raids and armed conflict, that promise carried high expectations.

On his first day in office, President Ruto delivered on the manifesto’s pledge to grant the National Police Service financial independence.

The Maraga Report salary reviews and the National Police Service Veterans and Fallen Heroes Bill followed, addressing welfare commitments made in the manifesto.

In the North Rift, Operation Maliza Uhalifu has become the tangible expression of those reforms.

The government reports 798 illegal firearms surrendered, 4,273 rounds of ammunition recovered, 286 persons arrested, and 21,724 raided cattle recovered.

This strikes directly at the livestock-raiding economy that has historically fueled cycles of violence in pastoral communities.

But the real measure lies in what residents are experiencing. In Laikipia, Baragoi, and Samburu, residents say the changes are increasingly felt on the ground.

In Baragoi, the deployment of specialized forces has replaced constant gunfire with the freedom to move at night.

In Samburu, inter-communal cattle raids have reduced, and community leaders report a shift from incitement to dialogue.

These are the human dividends of reforms that began as manifesto commitments. The direction of travel is clear.

The Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda was built on a foundational belief that Security is not a standalone pillar: it is the ground on which all other promises stand.

What residents in Laikipia, Baragoi, and Samburu are beginning to experience is not just safer communities, it is a manifesto, delivered.