The Standard ­ Monday
Date: 28.11.2016
Page 8,9
Article size: 950 cm2
ColumnCM: 211.11
AVE: 506666.66
Shame of officers forced to convert cells
Spot check by The
Standard reveals the
poor state police are
forced to operate in
while protecting lives
and properties
By BY STANDARD TEAM
Thousands of police officers who
risk their lives to protect Kenyans and
their property are living and working
in deplorable conditions.
A survey across the country reveals
that some police officers have con­
verted police cells into living quarters,
while in some regions, the law enforc­
ers are forced to mould mud and re­
pair their ramshackle living quarters
every time it rains.
The situation is captured by the
plight of officers working at Kam­
wenje Police post along the Laikipia­
Baringo border who have to go with­
out basic commodities such as water,
houses or even toilets.
Some of the mud­walled structures used by Administration Police officers in Kapenguria AP camp. Four officers at the camp share a room which is leaking, [pho
TOS: IRISSHEEL SHANZU]
Officers normally spend their
nights in the cells which they have
now converted into sleeping quarters.
The police post, put up with fund­
ing from Laikipia West Constituency
Development Fund (CDF) kitty, was
meant to accommodate officers who
normally patrol the border.
But there were no police houses
hence forcing the officers to convert
the police cells into sleeping quarters.
STRONG WINDS
Thanks to attacks by cattle rus­
tlers, all the window panes on the
building have been destroued, forc­
ing the officers to use cartons to pro­
tect themselves from strong winds.
An officer who sought anonymity,
said they are forced to go to the bush­
es to relieve themselves.
"The state of the toilets is very bad
that one cannot even visit them. We
use the nearby bushes as our toilets
as well as bathrooms," he says.
The police post has no water sup­
The front view of a police house block at Karatina Police Station in Mathira, Nyeri County, whose construction has
ply.
stalled. [PHOTO: KIBATA KIHU/STANDARD]
"The closest river is over 10km
from the police post and we normally
ask for water from some good neigh­
bours whom we have created rapport
with. Working here is hectic," he said.
Over 20 police officers have been
deployed to the post to patrol the bor­
der and hence cannot fit in the cells.
At Kakamega Central Police Sta­
tion, police officers play cat and
mouse with Kenya Power over non
payment of bills which normally range
between Sh200,000 and Sh600,000.
"Our seniors are not enthusiastic
to have the power paid in time and
will not do a thorough follow up with
the police headquarters to have us re­
electricity meter of its own.
"The station has tapped power
connected. You walk from your house
from the Assistant County Commis­
sioners office," said a source.
with crumpled clothes which have
not been ironed," said a junior officer.
The officer said it was frus­
Other AP camps in Mudindi, Mau
Mau, Sisenye and Nambengeta have
trating for junior officers' chil­
dren, "Peeping through the win­
no electricity.
dows of the senior officers houses
for officers to even have their phones
charged so that they can respond to
emergencies in time.
The situation is grim at Kericho
Police Station where old dilapidat­
to watch popular TV programmes."
And the situation is no different in
Busia, with Budalang'i Administra­
tion Police headquarters having no
The situation has made it hard
ed buildings serve as offices, while
mud­walled single rooms with leak­
ing rusty roofs serve as police officers
living quarters.
An old colonial structure believed
to have been constructed in the early
1930s and which served as a mansion
for a colonial army commander, who
headed troops who offered security to
white settlers in the nearby tea plan­
tations, now serves as offices.
The building is shared by the offi­
cer commanding station, officer com­
Ipsos Kenya ­ Acorn House,97 James Gichuru Road ­ Lavington ­ Nairobi ­ Kenya
manding police division and their of­
ficers.
The county police commander
operates in another tiny room in the
compound.
A tiny stone structure, which was
extended from the ageing building,
in the county that boasts of having
its first OCPD in 1965, serves as a cell.
A kiosk­like iron sheet structure
constructed on a space that would
otherwise be the building's veranda,
serves as the station's reception.
The Standard ­ Monday
Date: 28.11.2016
Page 8,9
Article size: 950 cm2
ColumnCM: 211.11
AVE: 506666.66
A source says an allotment letter
Turbo Police
for the three acres of land which was
post in Uasin
Gishu County.
formerly owned by James Finlay Lim­
ited was handed over to the police in
[PHOTO: PETER
2012.
OCHIENG/
STANDARD]
"I have to always cover my house­
hold items with a large nylon cover to
prevent them from getting wet and
destroyed whenever it rains which is
often since Kericho County is one of
"It is a shame that Kericho Police
the areas which receives rainfall liter­
Station, which is among the first sta­
tions to be established in Rift Valley
and the country, doesn't have a mod­
ern building and police officers work
in buildings which should have been
condemned and torn down a long
time ago," the source says.
ally throughout the year," said a police
officer posted at the station.
Police officers have to do with
makeshift bathrooms and pit latrines.
Pius Makori said lack of a bath­
room forced him to construct one at
the back of his house.
Ipsos Kenya ­ Acorn House,97 James Gichuru Road ­ Lavington ­ Nairobi ­ Kenya