Interior Cabinet Secretary Joseph Nkaissery and his Principal Secretary Karanja Kibicho are in Jordan to purchase multi-million equipment for the police force.
The two are overseeing the acquisition and delivery of police hardware including armoured personnel carriers (APCs) as policing outlook changes in the wake of growing terror threats and organised crimes.
They left Kenya last week on Friday and were to be joined by ministry bureaucrats and police for the exercise. Director of Communications in the Ministry of Interior Mwenda Njoka confirmed that the CS, PS and top officers were in Jordan to ensure procurement is done directly from manufacturers.
“There is nothing fishy in the deal. The ministry has changed its way of operation and eliminated brokers and cartels who overpriced equipment. It is value in return for Kenyans,” said Njoka.
He added: “There is no impropriety in the deal but because of security operations, we cannot disclose the nature, number and other finer details for obvious reasons.”
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Njoka also said the ministry has eliminated a number of cartels who controlled purchase of equipment at the ministry, adding the same cartels are fighting back.
“We have a competent CS who served as a general in Kenya Army. He is well versed with armoury and will do it in the best interest of Kenya,” Njoka said. The equipment is being purchased as police try to battle image problems and response capabilities to be able to deal with crimes.
Italy stopover
Just recently, police handed President Uhuru Kenyatta a memorandum saying their priority was better housing and pay. In a rejoinder, the President said State is engaging the Salaries and Remuneration Commission to address the issues. He also promised to upgrade their equipment.
Other equipment include night vision goggles, which are effective in operations and search and rescue missions at night.
The devices aid the eyesight in low lighting by amplifying the surrounding light. They can also magnify objects so they will appear closer or detect body heat through infrared light.
The officials’ trip is expected to end in Italy, where police choppers are being assembled before being delivered for use.
President Kenyatta at the weekend revealed police will for the first time acquire APCs for officers to use in terror prone areas and fight other organised crimes.
He said the Government will also have purchased a new helicopter by June and two other MI-17 helicopters are being refurbished to improve police ability to quickly move troops to any trouble spot and generally improve their mobility.
