President William Ruto-led regime has announced a major policy shift that will see all shoes purchased for Kenya’s security agencies sourced exclusively from local manufacturers, a move the government says is aimed at keeping billions of shillings within the country while creating more jobs in the manufacturing sector.
Speaking during an interview with comedian and media personality Felix Omondi, popularly known as Dr King’ori, on Monday, June 29, President William Ruto said the government had stopped importing footwear for officers serving in the National Police Service (NPS), the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) and the Kenya Prisons Service.
According to the President, he issued a directive requiring every shilling allocated for security agencies’ footwear to be spent on shoes manufactured by Kenyan companies instead of foreign suppliers.
“The one instruction I have given is that any money spent on buying shoes for our security agencies must be used to purchase shoes made in Kenya,” Ruto said.
The President revealed that some officials had initially questioned whether local manufacturers could meet the quality standards required by disciplined forces.
Instead of approving imports, however, he instructed government agencies to provide local factories with detailed specifications so they could manufacture footwear that met the required standards.
He said the approach had yielded positive results, with Kenyan manufacturers successfully producing shoes that satisfy the operational needs of security officers.
According to Ruto, the decision has already redirected government procurement spending back into the local economy, allowing Kenyan businesses to expand production while creating employment opportunities.
“The money we have been spending to buy shoes from all over the place is now in Kenya. And the number of people being hired in Kenya is now growing,” he added.