Strategic Leadership Practices and Reforms Implementation in Selected National Police Divisions, Nairobi City County, Kenya

Abstract

urrently, the National Police Service is undergoing some reforms implementation. This study was pegged on a discussion around the strategic leadership practices alongside reforms implementation in selected Police Divisions in Nairobi City County, Kenya. Back ground of this research was brought about by development of four objectives of this study, and was studied from three major perspectives, namely the global, regional and lastly local. The objectives were: to establish the extent to which the empowerment of an employee may influence the implementation of reforms in the National Police Service, to find out how teamwork affect reforms implementation in the National Police Service, to investigate how resource mobilization influence reforms implementation in the National Police Service and to analyse the effects of visionary leadership on the reforms implementation in the National Police Service. The independent variables that were considered during the study were employee empowerment, teamwork, resource mobilization and visionary leadership. Reforms implementation was conceptualize during the study as the dependent variable. Kurt Lewin‟s change theory was analysed to anchor on depended variable while sequential theory of decentralization and leader member exchange theory anchored the other independent variables. The study discussed research methodology, and this set out a descriptive research design. This research incorporated a target population of 445 police leaders. A multistage sampling design was used whereby combination of purposive, stratified and simple random sampling procedure was used to come up with a sample of 146 police leaders which represented the whole population. Eight police divisions were identified and questionnaires randomly given out to selected police leaders using drop and pick method. Pilot testing was done at Nairobi Railways Police Station whereby the questionnaires were administered to 15 police leaders to test validity and reliability of the instruments. Due to sensitivity of matters under study, the researcher considered ethical issues. Data was analysed using Statistical Package of Social Science (SPSS). Regression model was used to analyse relationship between independent and dependent variables where it established that employee empowerment, teamwork and resource mobilization significantly affect reforms implementation while visionary leadership is not correlated reforms implementation. Data Analysed was presented in tables. Results show that strategic leadership practices in the National Police Service are inadequate for proper implementation of reforms. The study concluded that strategic leadership practices is the key role of reforms implementation in the National Police Service. The study further recommends that National Police Service should improve strategic leadership practices in areas of employee empowerment, teamwork, resource mobilization and leadership to realize implementation of reforms in the National police service. Future researchers should focus in critically analysing factors affecting visionary as a strategy of leadership practice in Reforms implementation in the National Police divisions within Nairobi County