Police officers have been urged to uphold interpersonal skills at all times, while attending to members of the public.
Principal Secretary (PS), State Department for Public Service, Amos Gathecha, said that for many years, the Police Service has been blamed for poor customer relations in its interactions with the public, hence the need for a paradigm shift, to rectify the perception.
Gathecha was speaking at the Kiganjo Police Training Academy on Friday during the graduation of 104 Police officers attached to 52 Huduma Centres across the country. The officers have undergone a two-week training on customer care service excellence and security.
“Historically, the Police Force has been blamed for poor customer service in its interactions with the mwananchi. Therefore, there is a need for deliberate interventions that address this growing concern among the citizenry. This training is one of the interventions that is aimed at addressing these challenges towards a more professional and disciplined Police Service, that fosters a more harmonious Public Service relationship with Kenyans,” he said.
But even as he urged the officers to uphold work ethics while discharging their duties to the public, the PS called for firmness when dealing with unruly members of the public.
He cautioned the officers against lowering their guard, while dealing with uncooperative members of the public and insisted that adhering to the dictates of good interpersonal skills does not mean compromising the principles of their calling.
“You also need to be firm. Not all customers that come to you are good people. Some of them have issues at home, and they come and want to vent their anger on you. You deal with them firmly because they are not giving you respect, but they want you to understand them. Deal with them firmly even as you try to be friendly,” he told the officers.
Gatheca also announced plans to roll out similar training across other government ministries to equip public servants with adequate skills while attending to the public.
He said there was a need for the Treasury to allocate more funds for such training in the coming days as a means of transforming the public service into a movement that lives up to its calling in discharging its mandate to the citizens.
Among the officers lined up for such future training are those working in the Lands and Interior Ministries.
“Moving forward, it is important to anchor this engagement in a framework that will fully roll out this training on Huduma Kenya Customer Service Excellence to the entire National Police Service. The State Department for Public Service proposes the establishment of a Huduma Faculty of Customer Service at the National College in Kiganjo,” he pointed out.
“We want to have this training rolled out in the entire public service, and we have drawn up a curriculum in collaboration with the Kenya School of Government. We have started with the police and will go to the Ministry of Lands, Immigration, and other ministries that have a lot of contacts with members of the public,” he added.
Among the courses the officers covered during the two-week training are communication skills, customer care service excellence, the government digitization agenda, and mental wellness.
Also present during the function were Deputy Inspector General of Police Douglas Kanja Kirocho, Huduma Centre acting CEO Mugambi Njeru, and Kiganjo Police Training College Commandant Munga Nyale, among other senior security officers.
By Samuel Maina
