10,000 police officers to be deployed during Pope Francis visit

Ten thousand police officers will be deployed during Pope Francis visit to Kenya, State House spokesperson Manoah Esipisu has said.

Speaking during a press conference at Harambee House on Sunday, Esipisu said the government has partnered with the church to pull off a successful experience for the Pope.

Additionally[], 10,000 young people from NYS will be involved in crowd management. Esipisu encouraged Kenyans come out of their houses and welcome the Pope into the country.

"Unlike the visit by President Barack Obama when the Government encouraged Kenyans to stay home, we are encouraging Kenyans to flock into the city in their numbers to cheer the Pope and celebrate mass with him," said Esipisu.

Pope Francis will arrive on Wednesday 25th to be received by President Uhuru Kenyatta and will be accorded a 21-gun salute. He will then proceed to hold bilateral talks with the head of state before jointly addressing the nation from State House Nairobi.

The pope will have a busy day on Thursday the 26th. He will start the morning with a meeting with various religious leaders including the Muslims, Hindu and traditionalists before presiding over an open mass at the University of Nairobi.

“A million people, possibly occupying every space from the University of Nairobi graduation grounds to Uhuru Park. Literarily, covering the grounds from the Museum roundabout to Haile Selassie round about.

That explains security deployment numbers,” said Esipisu. After the mass the Pope will meet catholic clergy at St Mary's school in Lavington before winding up at the United Nations headquarters Gigiri where he will speak about climate change.

On Friday the Pope will head straight to Kangemi where he will meet slum dwellers before shooting off to Kasarani for a meeting with 200,000 young people.

The Pope will depart the country later that day for Uganda where he will continue with his inaugural African visit. From Uganda he will proceed to Chad which has been torn apart by civil war.

Muslim leaders have said Pope Francis should talk about hatespeech and condemn it during his visit. The leaders said the pope should encourage leaders to preach peace so as to bring unity in the country.

Pope Francis will visit Kenya between the 22nd and 27th of November, 2015. This will be Pope's first visit to an African country.