Zambia Looks to Kenya’s Experience as Police Oversight Bodies Join Forces

Photo Caption : IPOA Board members pose for a group photo with a delegation from Zambia’s Police Public Complaints Commission (PPCC) during a three-day benchmarking visit to Kenya aimed at strengthening police oversight mechanisms and promoting knowledge exchange.

A three day benchmarking visit puts accountability, learning and African cooperation at the centre of policing reform

Across Africa, one question keeps coming up in conversations about justice and public trust: who watches the watchers? This week, two institutions that answer that question for their citizens sat down at the same table in Nairobi to compare notes.

The Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) Board today welcomed a delegation from Zambia’s Police Public Complaints Commission (PPCC) at the start of a three day benchmarking visit to Kenya.

The visit is themed “Enhancing the Capacity of Police Oversight Mechanisms in Africa and Beyond.” It is designed as a working platform for knowledge exchange on institutional arrangements, operational best practices and the mechanisms that make police oversight effective.

Learning from lived experience

Since its establishment through an Act of Parliament, IPOA has built its work around a simple promise: members of the public who feel wronged by the police have somewhere independent to take their complaint.

That promise is stated plainly on the Authority’s boardroom wall, where a banner in English and Kiswahili invites citizens to lodge complaints against police officers, including through the toll free line 1559.

For the Zambian delegation, the visit is a chance to see how that promise is turned into daily practice, from receiving and investigating complaints to the structures that keep an oversight body independent and credible.For IPOA, it is a chance to share lessons learned and to hear how a sister institution approaches similar challenges.

A two way exchange

Benchmarking visits of this kind are valuable because the learning runs in both directions.No oversight body has all the answers, and each operates within its own legal framework, resources and public expectations.By comparing approaches openly, institutions can adopt what works, avoid costly missteps and strengthen their case for the independence they need to do their jobs.

The discussions are expected to cover how the two bodies are structured, how they handle complaints and investigations, and how they engage the public and other stakeholders.

Why it matters

Strong police oversight is not only about discipline. It protects citizens, supports honest officers and builds the public confidence that effective policing depends on.

When institutions across the continent learn from one another, those benefits reach more people.The delegation will continue engagements with IPOA over the remaining days of the visit.

Taking oversight to the people: IPOA at Mashujaa Thematic Week

While the Authority hosts its guests from Zambia, it is also taking its message directly to citizens across the country.

The 2026 Mashujaa Thematic Week began on 13th October, with IPOA exhibiting and engaging members of the public in three locations: Iten in Elgeyo Marakwet County, Kapsabet in Nandi County, and Eldoret in Uasin Gishu County. The activities lead up to the Mashujaa Day celebrations on 20th October.

The opening ceremony was presided over by Interior Principal Secretary Dr. Raymond Omollo, alongside Deputy Inspectors General of Police Eliud Lagat and Gilbert Masengeli.The week showcases national achievements under three thematic pillars: Security, Sports, and Finance and the Economy.

At its exhibition stands, IPOA is stepping up public sensitisation on its mandate, functions and achievements, while responding directly to citizens’ questions and concerns. Through these engagements, the Authority is bringing policing oversight closer to the people and promoting public participation.

The two events tell one story. At home, IPOA is meeting citizens where they are, explaining what oversight is and how to use it. Abroad and across borders, it is sharing and gathering the lessons that make that oversight stronger. Both aim at the same outcome: a public that understands its rights and trusts that someone independent is listening.