Effects of HIV and AIDS in the Performance of Duty by the Kenya Police Service

Abstract

With nearly 67% of those infected with HIV in the world living in Sub-Saharan Africa yet the region has only 10% of the world’s population, the pandemic has become one of the leading challenges to socio economic well being of Kenya with a prevalence rate of 7.4%. Many studies on HIV and AIDS have not addressed the Kenya Police Service, yet they are in the frontline in dealing with the key groups that are vulnerable to high levels of HIV infections. The objective of this descriptive survey is to determine the effects of HIV and AIDS on the police officers performance of duty and a total of 405 police officers responses was utilized in the analysis of the results. From the study findings, majority of the officers are male (75%) and females are 25% and are young sexually active and vulnerable. The level of education was found to be high with 99% having secondary education and above. There is a strong relationship between HIV and AIDS and performance of duty as the commanders are not able to deploy at a short notice compromising efficiency and effectiveness. As officers die, the skills and mentorship for young officers are lost hence the need for a better epidemiological data and support for the infected officers