CS Nkaissery defends Air Wing commander Rodgers Mbithi for allowing relatives use police plane

NAIROBI: Interior Cabinet Secretary Joseph Nkaissery has defended Kenya Police Air Wing Commandant Rodgers Mbithi over claims he committed a crime by allowing his daughter in law fly in a police fixed wing plane from Mombasa to Nairobi.

Nkaissery said Mbithi committed no crime in allowing the plane to carry his kin. He added there will be no action to be taken on the commander.

"The law is clear that he can authorize a pilot to carry his relative and any other civilian. What is his crime?" he posed a question to journalists.

The minister said the presence of the plane in Mombasa on April 2 when terrorists attacked Garissa University College did not affect the response to the scene.

"If you are waiting for his blood to spill you will get tired. It will not be spilled," he said in reference to pressure for action on Mbithi.

The minster said the plane was scheduled to fly to Mombasa and back for training purposes and it was during the session that the pilot picked up the daughter in law and two children.

"The pictures you have been seeing of girls posing on the police plane are old. Even civilians usually take pictures on the police planes after being permitted by the pilots," said Nkaissery.

He added his (Nkaissery) and police boss Joseph Boinnet's flight to Garissa did not equally affect the response.

"The chopper we used to Garissa can carry only four passengers and so there is no way it could have carried the more than 20 Recce personnel that were needed there. I was needed there," he said.

The minister was responding to questions from journalists regarding the response to the incident in which 148 people were killed by terrorists at the college.

Mbithi had said in a statement the law permits him to allow his pilots to pick and fly his relatives and civilians.

He also said the presence of the Cessna 208 Caravan (5Y-POL) in Mombasa on April 2 as terrorists struck Garissa University College did not delay or stop the flying of Recce personnel to the scene.

A team of five officers has been appointed to investigate the police air wing over allegations that the unit failed to respond to the needs in the wake of the poor police response to the GUC scene where 148 people were killed.

Mbithi told the team Police Standing Orders 209 allow civilians or relatives into such planes.

"The carriage of Civilians or relatives of Airwing Officers is prohibited except with the express permission of Formation/Provincial commanders or Commandant Air Wing," says part of the procedures for operating planes there, which he cited.

He told the team he called the captain who had the plane that day and asked him if he could lift his daughter in law and two children to Nairobi.

"The in law family resides at the Coast and I was only asking for a lift to Nairobi. The pilot has the discretion of refusing to carry any passenger. He agreed to fly them."

"The law allows me or any other commander to do so," he told the officers.

Mbithi said the Airwing has only three serviceable Aircrafts, which include one small helicopter with capacity of only four passengers and two fixed wing caravans.

On that day, the Air wing had only one operational task to Turkwel in Turkana County to convey the GSU commandant Joel Kitili with Bell 206 helicopter and one programmed training flight to Mombasa by the Cessna flight.

By the time the flights departed Wilson airport, the officers there had not been informed of any need to fly to Garissa.

The Cessna plane left Wilson at 7.26 am and landed in Mombasa at 9.17 am and took the recommended 20 minutes on the ground in Mombasa during which the pilot had agreed to pick the three civilians before it hit back air to Nairobi at 9.49 am and landed at 11.36 am.

By then, they had been ordered to be ready to fly the 18 member Recce team to Garissa. The team took an hour to drive from Ruiru to Wilson.

The Recce team was told to drive to Wilson to pick the two available fixed wing planes. Another team with medical equipment and operational ones was told to drive to Garissa because they were heavy to fit in the planes.

The Caravans could not fly to Ruiru where the team had been on standby since 6 am when an alarm went off signaling the attack in Garisssa to pick them because there was no runway there.

The Recce team maneuvered through Nairobi traffic jam and arrived at Wilson at 12.20 pm, an hour later before the caravan was airborne at 12.30 pm and landed at 1.55 pm.

By then, the team that drove on road had arrived and they went for a three hour briefing as the terrorists continued to slaughter the students. They went into the university at 5 pm and was through within 12 minutes killing the four terrorists. One commando was killed and six wounded by one of the slain terrorists.