A Kenyan police officer has been appointed the head of the African International Police Association (IPA) Chapter on the continent.

Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Jared Ojuok, the Kenya Police Service Public Information Officer and also the President of IPA Kenya, was elected during the biennial regional meeting of the International Executive Board (IEB) in Manzini City, Eswatini.

The IEB meeting, chaired by the IPA International President Martin Hoffmann, was attended by, among others, Vice President and Chairperson of the International Relations Commission Oliver Hoffmann.

“We have seen exponential growth in Section Kenya since Mr Ojuok came into office, and we have no doubt that the same will be reflected across the African continent,” Hoffmann said.

Ojuok will replace South African IPA president Vossie Voss, and will be deputised by Outam Kumar Guness, the president of IPA Section Mauritius.

“The Africa region has set the agenda for the rest of the world, and I know you will still be available to provide insights whenever called upon to do so,” Hoffmann said while congratulating Voss.

The IPA African Chapter has eight member countries, including Kenya, South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Eswatini, Mozambique, Mauritius, and Seychelles. 

In his acceptance speech, Ojuok stressed the need for focused cooperation, recruitment and joint activities. 

“The African chapter will embark on recruiting more countries to join the association and equally encourage young police officers from existing sections to register their membership,” he said.

The IPA is the largest police officers’ association that creates a forum for friendship and international cooperation among officers.

Founded on January 1, 1950, in England by Police Sergeant from Lincolnshire Arthur Troop, the association has more than 400,000 members in about 100 countries, making it the largest friendship association for both serving and retired officers.

The IPA Kenya was established in 1961, the third section outside Europe to join the IPA, shortly after Canada and Hong Kong, before it was later disbanded.

Around 2010, SSP Ojuok, then Chief Inspector of Police, was rummaging through a pile of books and documents at a construction site within Vigilance House when he stumbled upon some of the discarded IPA documents.

He contacted former Police spokesperson Eric Kiraithe before eventually reviving the association that has since grown in leaps and bounds.