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Thousands of police officers in stations across the country are unhappy with the poor conditions and lack of facilities at their places of work

Most severely hit are stations created about three years ago, mostly in rural areas, where officers are forced to buy stationery, fuel police vehicles and feed detained suspects.

Despite the National Police Service (NPS) announcing the digitisation of police Occurrence Books (OB) to ease reporting and recording of crimes as well as reduce cases of manipulation at police stations, a visit to the stations reveals a contradictory picture.

Some of them lack adequate personnel, thus exposing officers to danger in the event of an attack by criminals.

Several police stations and posts in rural areas are manned by between three and four officers and, in some cases, just two, putting their lives at risk.

The officers, mostly deployed to 1,151 police stations that were hastily created and gazetted in 2020, are operating without essential facilities such as vehicles, stationery, operation funds, offices and furniture among others.
So dire is the situation that in some cases, senior officers are forced to dip into their pockets to facilitate service delivery, particularly when it comes to arresting suspects, feeding them in cells and taking them to court.
The situation has been compounded by delays in the disbursement of funds for operations and failure by the government to settle pending bills that run into millions of shillings.

Officers are either forced to buy stationery to record statements or pass the costs to members of the public who report complaints or suspects who have been arrested.

No funds

A survey by People Daily established that officers in some stations appear to have been abandoned by the authorities.

“It is as if we have been left to be on our own. How do they expect us to serve an area of about 60 kilometres square without a vehicle? And to make matters worse, our boss (Officer Commanding Station) does not get AIE funds to facilitate our operations,” said a junior police officer in a station in Meru.

At Butula Police Station in Busia County, investigations revealed that the OCS has never received AIE (Authority to Incur Expenditure) since being posted there two years ago and has to use public service vehicles while on duty.

The OCS, we were told, either buys food for detained suspects or transfers them to Bumala Police Station, almost 20km away, where the officer in charge receives funds.

Next to Butula is the Bulemia police post, which has three police officers.

Officers in Bunyala, Teso South, Samia and Sio Port in Busia county are facing similar challenges.
The same obtains at Shimanyiro, Shisasari and Shinyalu police stations in Kakamega County.
Likewise in almost all police stations in the counties of Marsabit, Mandera, Kilifi, Baringo, Samburu, Turkana, Narok, Makueni and Isiolo.

In stations lucky to have vehicles, we found out, officers in charge are forced to fuel them as well as meet maintenance expenses. This is besides having to buy stationery and other necessities out-of-pocket.

Senior police officers who spoke to People Daily on condition of anonymity said the problem began in February 2020 when the then Inspector-General of Police Hilary Mutyambai gazetted 1,151 police stations to enhance service delivery and security across the country.

Whereas the new police stations were expected to help in the fight against crime, ease congestion and generally help in maintaining law and order, they have turned into the government’s Achilles’ heel.
The creation of the stations was not matched with disbursement and deployment of resources, both human and financial, leaving the officers posted there struggling to devise survival tactics.

Of the 1,151 new stations, Nakuru county got 52, followed by Kiambu and Bungoma which got 46 each.
Other gazetted police stations were in Kakamega 45, Lakipia 39, Migori 38, Kajiado 34, Elgeyo Marakwet 30, Trans Nzoia and Narok 28, Nairobi 24, Kisii 22, Homa Bay 21, Murang’a, Baringo and Nandi 20, Nyeri and Kitui 19, Kilifi, Samburu, West Pokot and Siaya 16, Kericho, Nyandarua and Wajir 15 and Busia, Kirinyaga, Mandera and Kisumu 14 each.

The remaining counties were allocated between 13 and two stations each, with Isiolo being the least beneficiary.

Serious shortage

The Ministry of Interior and National Administration had not responded to our questions by the time of going to press despite having promised to do so.

The Ministry’s Director of Communications Francis Gachuri asked for more time to be furnished with the details before he could get back to us.

The office of the Inspector-General of Police Japhet Koome did not comment, as the Spokesperson, Resila Onyango, said she was engaged at the Nairobi International Agricultural Show.

Deputy Inspector-General in charge of the Kenya Police Service David Kanja acknowledged that there is a problem of inadequate resources, which he said the authorities were looking into.

“We have a serious shortage of transport, which affects about 47 per cent of our stations. This is, however, being addressed alongside the problem of budget for stationery,” Kanja told People Daily.

Our investigations established that despite the government efforts to reform and equip the National Police Service, it is still facing numerous challenges in terms of equipment, training and resources.

The service underwent a major restructuring in 2019 that saw 23,900 Administration Police officers join the Kenya Police Service.

The restructuring was largely seen as successful since it significantly reduced cases of overlapping mandates with stations realigned for effective policing in line with the security demands.

Killed on duty

However, there was no corresponding acquisition of vehicles and infrastructure, among other things.
The budget for infrastructure development has not been enough and some of the areas covered by the police posts and stations are still very expansive and require sub-division for easier management.

This financial year, security agencies were allocated Sh338.2 billion for operations. Out of this, KPS was allocated Sh98.6 billion and a further Sh8.8 billion for the leasing of vehicles.

Already, the police modernisation programme is ongoing with an initial allocation of Sh500 million.
The challenges are even more complex in the North Eastern counties, including Mandera, Wajir and Garissa, which face constant threats from the Al-Shabaab.

Dozens of officers have either been killed or seriously injured in the line of duty. This year, the government allocated Sh2.9 billion for the Group Personal Insurance for Police and Prisons Services and Sh5.8 billion for Medical Insurance for Police and Prisons Services.

In July 2021, then Deputy Inspector General of Police Edward Mbugua directed that all police posts and patrol bases with less than six officers be closed and the officers deployed to the mother stations.