FALSE: CS Kithure Kindiki has not said that Kenya police officers will be wearing pocketless uniforms

The Interior Ministry and Kindiki have denounced the claim.

A Facebook post purportedly quoting Cabinet Secretary for Interior and Administration of National Government Kithure Kindiki on pocketless uniform for Kenyan police is FALSE.

“Kenya Police to wear pocket less (sic) uniforms,” the post reads.

The issue of pocketless police uniforms is not new in Kenya. In 2016, Kisumu residents reportedly called for their officers to be issued with “uniforms without pockets” to tame corrupt traffic police.

Kindiki was sworn in as the CS for Interior on 27 October 2022, following his nomination by President William Ruto. However, he has not made any changes to the police service uniforms, which were unveiled in 2018 as part of reforms to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of Kenya’s police.

On 3 November 2022, the Ministry of Interior flagged a similar claim as fake via its official Twitter account.

The tweet reads: “The Government through @InteriorKE and @NPSC_KE will continue to prioritize reforms that dignify the Police and complement their capacities for an effective discharge of their duties.”

In a Facebook post dated 3 November 2022, Kindiki urged Kenyans to “ignore fake news tailored to potray [sic] our police officers negatively.”

PesaCheck has looked into a Facebook post purportedly quoting Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary for Interior and Administration of National Government Kithure Kindiki on pocketless uniforms for police and finds it to be FALSE.

This post is part of an ongoing series of PesaCheck fact-checks examining content marked as potential misinformation on Facebook and other social media platforms.

By partnering with Facebook and similar social media platforms, third-party fact-checking organisations like PesaCheck are helping to sort fact from fiction. We do this by giving the public deeper insight and context to posts they see in their social media feeds.

Have you spotted what you think is fake or false information on Facebook? Here’s how you can report. And, here’s more information on PesaCheck’s methodology for fact-checking questionable content.

This fact-check was written by PesaCheck Fact-Checker Peris Gachahi and edited by PesaCheck Senior Copy Editor Cédrick Irakoze and acting chief copy editor Francis Mwaniki.

The article was approved for publication by PesaCheck managing editor Doreen Wainainah.