Deputy Inspector General of Police Eliud Lagat was appointed last month, taking over acting IG Douglas Kanja who had previously deputized former Police head Japhet Koome. Before then, he was Commandant of the General Service Unit (GSU) and his rise to his new role has been nothing short of monumental.
The new DIG was speaking in an interview with the Nation, where he narrated how his love for automotives led him to the Police Service , a career change that did not seem likely for the 52-year-old who had initially wanted to be a priest.
Lagat who undertook his secondary education at the Mother of Apostles Seminary saw becoming a Catholic priest as his next natural step, but this dream died as soon as he left the institution to train as a mechanic.
He proceeded to train in Industrial Technology at the University of Eastern Africa-Baraton where he honed his skills in mechanics. His qualifications extended to automotive engineering, in pursuit of his dream to work for a big motor vehicle garage, General Motors.
When the opportunity to join the police force came, he resorted to shelving his ambitions of his dream job. However, he was stationed at the GSU workshop at the police college, where he trained and spent his early days fitting car brakes.
“I enjoyed it. I loved things to do with vehicles,” he reminisced.
After graduating from the Kenya Police College in Kiganjo, he was deployed to the General Service Unit headquarters where he started off as a mechanic repairing police vehicles.
Now 25 years later, he has risen through the ranks, accomplishing major milestones in his career. Before his role as GSU Commandant, he headed the forensic Bomb Disposal unit and the Directorate of Reforms at DCI headquarters. With a Master’s Degree in Armed Conflict and Peace Studies from the University of Nairobi, he has held served in various capacities such as Director Investigations Bureau and Deputy Head of the DCI Crime Scene Support Unit after a three-year stint as a forensic investigator.
In his new role, Lagat has promised a raft of changes in service delivery by the law enforcers, which he intends to undertake by first transforming the police service.
“It’s the small things that count. I want to see officers enjoy their work. I also want the police to serve the public with dedication,“ he stated.
Within one month since his assumption of office, he has started implementing some of the basic changes that will see the police enhance their service delivery.
“Issues like cleanliness in the stations, the cells are some of the quick fix issues that do not require a budget to achieve,” the police boss explained in the interview.
Lagat has also been making impromptu visits to different police stations around the country such as Kilimani and the Mwiki Police Stations where he inspected police cells and checked on general cleanliness in the station.
“Police cells should not be a place for punishment. It doesn’t take much to ensure that these facilities are clean,” Lagat noted.
This new management style keeps regional police chiefs and station heads on high alert, as the DIG can arrive unannounced at any police station at any time.
The police chief also noted he was focused on tackling crime across the country, such as the banditry issue in the North Rift region which he opined had riddled the country for a long time.
“It’s time we dealt with these issues with finality,” he stated.
Regarding complaints by Kenyans of police brutality, as was witnessed during anti-government protests, Lagat noted:“We will transform the police into a mwananchi service. We owe it to the public to deliver the best of service. Watch this space.”
