The Constitutional Change, Police Reforms and Human Rights Practice in Kenya; 2010-2014
NELSON MUGWERU NJIRI, Joseph Otieno Wasonga

Abstract
This paper interrogated the police reforms as enshrined in the 2010 constitution and their implications on human rights practice in Kenya up to 2014. A historical design was chosen to guide the enquiry with Lewin’s theory of change adopted as the theoretical underpinning. Senior serving and retired police officers, members of the community policing, human rights activists, criminal law professors, county government administrators, retired provincial administrators, political detainees, political scientists and former and present politicians in Kenya constituted the target population. The purposive sampling was adopted to select 166 study participants. Data was collected through focused group discussions, document analysis and interview guide. The qualitative data was analyzed based on the thematic content analysis. It was evident that in the 2010 constitutional dispensation new legislations were enacted to accelerate the implementation of police reforms. However, police brutality, impunity, complicity, extrajudicial and arbitrary executions, corruption and a widening rift between the police officers and the civilians remained the enduring features characterizing the police institution. Legal, economic, electoral and political reforms are recommended if meaningful police reforms can be actualized.

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