Kenya ranks extremely low in the tier of nations whose people have faith in the police force's competency.

According to a recent Afrobarometer Report, Kenya is third from bottom in the list of African countries whose police are the most professional. The country has a scorecard of a mere 18%.

Only two nations, Nigeria and Congo-Brazzaville, rank lower than Kenya in terms of poor police professionalism, with scorecards of 17% and 13% respectively.

Still on police professionalism, Tanzania leads the line in East Africa, coming inside the top 10 countries whose police force is the most professional.

Burkina Faso, Morocco, and Benin lead the line in terms of police professionalism, with scores of 68%, 64%, and 61%, respectively. Kenya's East African neighbour Tanzania, ranked ninth, with a score of 53%- a stark contrast to many of the African nations.

Despite the police force being a critical sector in the country in maintaining law and order, the police force, especially in Kenya, has been thoroughly scrutinized in recent months.

In the wake of the viral anti-Finance Bill protests in June 2024, the Kenyan police were heavily criticised for how they handled mass action, which majorly stemmed from the Kenyan youth.

Cases of brutality and abductions were rampant, with some of these incidents being caught on video. In one of the latest protests against femicide, Interior Principal Secretary Raymond Omollo regretted the police violence meted out to the protesters.

The report, which was conducted between 2021 and 2023 across 39 African nations further revealed a worrying trend across the continent, with only one in three citizens expressing faith in the police's ability to uphold the rule of law and maintain order.

Among the key issues that emerged from the report which serve as a key hinderance in the police's ability to effectively conduct their mandate included systemic corruption, police brutality, and an overall lack of professionalism.

Notably, North Africa recorded the highest levels of trust in their police force with 51% of respondents expressing confidence in authorities. Central Africa recorded the lowest levels at 37%.

As far as corruption was concerned, Nigeria, Kenya, and the other countries that ranked lowest in police professionalism were in the top 10 countries whose police were most likely to ask for bribes to serve citizens.

Kenya ranked 10th in this tier, with 52% of respondents expressing concern over the possibility of being asked for bribes. Liberia, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone ranked first, second and third respectively in this regard.