By Standard Team

Inside Harambee House, the seat of the presidency, a furious tussle is on but it is silent and may escape you.

It is between Police Commissioner Hussein Ali and Administration Police Commandant Kinuthia Mbugua, and the focal point is Office of the President where Internal Security Minister George Saitoti sits. Accusations and counter-accusations between the two are flying between Vigilance House and AP Headquarters.

It has been added fuel by the Sh950 million rearmament project for APs, whose numbers have been rising steadily, and today are just 8,000 less than the police units Major-Gen Ali commands.

The police have always complained that the APs – who now boast of bullet-proof jackets, balaclavas, masks and knee and leg calf protectors — are either being pampered or prepared for a mission which isn’t yet clear.

Their fears are compounded by the fact that the APs were used by President Kibaki’s Party of National Unity during the bungled elections as polling agents on voting day, a process that saw several of them killed by members of the public.

Their fears rose when recently, with succinct nod from OP, Mbugua sunk Sh950m in 5,000 high-calibre guns and 2,000 machine guns.

It is also reported AP spending another 5.1 million Euros (Sh510 million) to purchase a second hand helicopter from South Africa. Another unspecified amount goes to purchase of a second chopper and acquisition of a marine boat to be used alongside one that is already operating on Lake Victoria. Already, a full-fledged marine unit has been formed, trained and deployed at the Indian Ocean and Lake Victoria where the personnel are now operating.

Unlike the police, who recently graduated 2,899 new officers, AP now has two training schools operating concurrently. It is using two training bases in Gilgil and Naivasha owned by National Youth Service. Last week, 3,500 new APs ‘graduated’ at a ceremony presided over by the President, and next month another 3,000 will be released by AP Training School in Embakasi. This is bound to further narrow the gap between APs and Police, which currently stands at 32,000 and 40,000 respectively.

To the police this goes beyond the mandate of the support unit for Government administrators, which in the colonial ara was a communal unit called Tribal Police.

After last weeks passing out parade in Gilgil, the number of APs edged closer to the police’s and on deployment, especially to the flashpoint of post-election violence, they would shadow the police who have traditionally been more and well spread.

The tension is palpable in the two command corridors, so much that this week’s killings of two senior AP inspectors by regular police in Mombasa is feared to be part of the dangerous game.

The police, on the other hand, are wondering if the APs had anything to do with the killings of three of its officers in Athi River on Saturday night.

The silent war which Prof Saitoti appeared to try and defuse when on Sunday, he brought Ali and Mbugua to a meeting and promised it will be investigated, has brought into sharp focus the hidden war between the two units which has doubts on the proposed Police reforms and consolidation of the forces under one director general.

The differences came to the fore when Ali went to the National Taskforce on Police Reforms and proposed a merger of both AP and regular police. Mbugua who got a contract after the elections, having attained retirement, appeared before the Task Force the following day and opposed this.

Harambee House is the nerve centre of both police force and APs who directly work under the President, through the Internal security minister. The minister also sits in the National Defence and Security Council – the country’s top most decision-making organ on security matters.

Caught between the symbolic sibling rivalry are Kenyans who rely on the two Forces for a good sleep, secure in the knowledge they are on the prowl of hunting robbers, muggers and other lawbreakers.

The Police chief and his staff want the APs moved into their command in the name of consolidating security operations. The APs want to stay a pole away, arguing police officers chase law-breakers, and they should be let to help secure Kenya’s borders and government installations, as well as being attached to those who govern us.

Tenders for the acquisition of the new armoury have already been put out, insiders revealed on Sunday.

Internal security assistant minister Orwa Ojode confirmed the plans to acquire the weapons saying it had been necessitated by the double intake of personnel in the past two years.

"The purchase is purely related to the double intake of the personnel. We cannot have officers without guns," he said on the phone.

Ojode said there is nothing sinister in the whole process and tenders to purchase the weapons will be above board. The AP has been using G3 rifles in their operations but they want to arm some units with AK 47s, which they argue are better in their work.

Whereas insiders within the AP say the acquisition is normal and will be preserved for securing the borders, those in the regular police argue protection of the border is not the work of their counterparts.

Mbugua confirmed they have already acquired one chopper for their operations and they are in the process of getting more and boats that will enhance their operations at the ocean and some lakes within the country.

"There is nothing wrong with that because we are trying to ensure we give the required security at all levels. We are the force that is all over the country," he said.

On Sunday, Saitoti declined to confirm or deny the plans but argued that AP is an independent unit with its own mandates.

"AP and regular police are two independent agencies. I don’t think they have any conflict or differences in their work because each has its own mandate," he said.

Mbugua termed the rearmament a security issue and sought not to comment further. Ali too declined to comment on the war between the two agencies and laughed it off when we approached him.

Another official at OP blamed Ali for the development claiming he has been boycotting their meetings to strategise on various issues including that of buying weapons.

"Whenever he is invited he does not come and when we decide the way forward you hear cries from other quarters," said an insider.