Abstract
Over the years, there have been documented cases of low prosecution of criminal cases attributed to weaknesses or failures in the office of DCI in Kenya and especially cases involving serious crimes such as murder, rape, defilement, corruption, assault and economic crimes. Loss of cases has been linked to poorly conducted investigations, corruption, and insufficient procured evidence to convict the perpetrators, leaving the blame to investigative officers. Some studies have attributed the challenges in the office of the DCI to include infrequent training, low support from senior officers, and lack of sufficient information on career pathways and plans for DCI officers. However, these studies have glaring gaps in terms of concept, context and methodology. Accordingly, this study intended to fill the gap by researching the career planning and performance of uniformed employees at the Directorate of Criminal Investigations Headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya. In specific focus, the study investigated the effects of opportunity analysis, periodic review of the plan, career goals, and occupational options on the performance of uniformed employees at the Directorate of Criminal Investigations Headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya. This study adopted a descriptive research design. The target population comprised a total of 943 uniformed employees working at DCI headquarters. The sample size of 272 was determined scientifically aided by Kothari formula. The study collected primary data by use of a structured questionnaire that had closed-ended questions. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS version 28) was used in the data analysis. The collected quantitative data was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The study found a positive and significant association between career planning and performance outcomes of the assessed uniformed employees at DCI. This confirms that career planning contributed to the improved employee performance at the DCI headquarters in Kenya.