Police sibling rivalry turns ugly, as 'bad blood' heats up

Suspicion and internal supremacy battles are disrupting operations at the National Police Service (NPS), The Nairobian can report.

The Kenya Police (KP), also known as regular police, and Administration Police (AP) seem to be pulling in different directions, a situation that is causing frequent frictions among officers of the two services.

The bad blood came to the limelight when AP officers in Kisumu stormed the Central Police Station on September 13, protesting the killing of a colleague who was accused of being a robber.

The officer, who worked in Baringo, was shot dead alongside a suspected criminal after a gang allegedly stole Sh400,000 from employees of a local supermarket.

The chase that ensued after the robbery prompted a shootout that saw police officers gun down two of the robbers, including the AP at a hideout at Manyatta estate.

The incensed local AP officers stormed the Kisumu Central Police Station accusing their counterparts in CID wing of being trigger-happy. The APs exonerated the dead colleague from blame and demanded an explanation for the shooting.

This is not the first time one unit has been linked to the death of an officer from another police arm. Officers from regular and administrative units have previously been linked to fire exchanges that have led to deaths of policemen from both sides.

The Kisumu shooting was unique in that it sucked in two local police bosses, who uncharacteristically differed in public, forcing Inspector General (IG) David Kimaiyo to intervene.

The dead officer had police identification documents with details matching those on his national identification card, identifying him as Wycliffe Ndiga. Ndiga was stationed at Koibatek and was off-duty on permission to attend a funeral in Kisumu East, according to documents found on him.

While Kisumu AP commander Gradus Atandi suspected foul play following reports this could have been a revenge attack after AP officers implicated a CID officer in crime, Nyanza regional police coordinator Charles Narangwi maintained that Ndiga was a criminal.

“They had weapons at the time they were challenged to surrender. One of them was carrying a bag that had the stolen property, and it is unfortunate he is a serving police officer,” said Narangwi.

Before the Kisumu storm settled, another AP officer was arrested on September 20 at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in a gang that was from Mombasa after a robbery mission.

Raphael Kemboi Rotich based in Tinderet was accused of being the leader of the four-man gang in Mombasa. He also regularly communicated with Ndiga, police claimed.

Even though both cases had criminal connections, a section of AP officers were not happy with how they were handled. In their view, there was “a deliberate effort to portray them as the bad apples” in the NPS.

They accuse their counterparts of making them look bad in the eye of the public and talked of a disjointed command structure at national, county and sub-county levels. They claimed regular police were receiving preferential treatment. They told The Nairobian that some senior officers at Vigilance House (NPS headquarters) and Victor Okioma, the secretary of national coordination, are contriving ways to make a case for the disbandment of the AP unit.

Okioma dismissed the claims, saying the law is clear on the role of the two services. He added that he was not aware of any disharmony after his push to have the AP unit included in the Constitution passed in 2010.

“They are creating problems that don’t exist because the law hasn’t changed. They are supposed to be enforcing administration law and any other Act that regulate government departments,” said the senior official.

The vice chairman of Parliament’s departmental committee on administration and national security, Alois Lentoimaga, said the current arrangement that recognises more than one commander of police in a county is partly to blame for insecurity in some areas.

He said there must be one overall commander in every county to instill discipline and order in the service.

“We have raised the issue at our committees with relevant agencies, and we hope they are addressing it. As a former DO (District Officer), I know there must be an overall commander for all agencies in each county,” the Samburu North MP said.

The service is in its early stages of restructuring, following the merger in 2012 to conform to the National Police Service Act. Previously, KP and AP operated as separate units.

The merger marks a milestone that could end constant hostilities between officers from the two units.

When the Constitution was passed five years ago, Kenyans expected a reliable police service to deal with insecurity, in spite of ill equipment, deplorable living conditions and low salaries of the officers.

These hopes were soon dashed as the two units got embroiled in a vicious behind-the-scenes supremacy battle, with AP officers accusing their counterparts of arrogance.

Recently, they have also accused some senior regular police officers of scheming to have them confined to county governments, where they will work under administrative officers.

A sub-county AP commander, who talked of existing tension while attempting to downplay the magnitude of the problem, heaped blame on regular police, whom he accused of creating the impression of a strained and hostile relationship.

“From time immemorial, the Kenya Police have always wanted us to be subordinate to them. Even after merging, there is still tension. It is small issues that are creating the misunderstanding and problems,” said the Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP).

He claimed the intention of KP is to cast the AP in bad light to lay ground for either the assimilation or disbandment of the unit.

“We are aware it is a well-orchestrated ploy by our counterparts who are creating this impression of animosity, so that demands for scrapping of the AP can be made,” added the officer.

He recounted how two years ago, alleged trigger-happy regular police shot dead an AP officer, claiming he was a criminal.

However, an OCPD (Officer Commanding Police Division) dismissed the APs as “crybabies.” He claimed they have “no specific core function to perform.”

He equated the APs to supporting staff, who should therefore work at the discretion of their regular police counterparts who are overwhelmed with work at the station level.

“The workload at the station where all manner of reports are made is demanding, yet what the APs do is “escort work.” They should join us. We don’t want them to be deployed to chief camps,” the OCPD said.

He accused APs of being economical with the truth, arguing that whenever security deteriorated, it is the regular police who bear the brunt of criticism, with OCPDs and OCSs being in the firing line.

“We are the ones directly dealing with criminals. Whenever there is insecurity in an area, the APs are the last to be challenged, because they cannot define what crime is or the law,” claimed the SSP.

The officer said they are understaffed, hence the need for APs to supplement their efforts. He says the role of their colleagues is that of border patrol and anti-stock theft.

But National Police Service Commission (NPSC) chairman Johnstone Kavuludi denied there is a rift between the two. He insisted that none of the two services is superior to the other.

“I am not aware of any tension. What I am aware of is that the current ranking does not discriminate against the Administration Police and Kenya Police. They are both equal and belong to the NPSC,” Kavuludi said.

Another source of the friction is the alleged slashing of AP operational budget. Some county AP commanders claimed their allocations had over the last three months been drastically cut.

The initial figure of Sh1.2 million each was entitled to has been reduced to a meagre Sh200,000, according to one officer, who also claimed they have been denied the authority to incur expenditure.

He said his counterparts at the KP receive the Sh1.2 million, and accused some senior officers at Jogoo House of trying to suffocate the AP unit, which he claimed was incorruptible and at the the forefront in fighting terrorism.

“At the moment, there is a problem. Our Deputy lG, Samuel Arachi, is being sabotaged. When the AP is ground to a halt, this country will become ungovernable,” warned the commander.

IG David Kimaiyo did not respond to claims raised by officers from both units. In a previous statement after the Kisumu incident, the IG directed officers to work as one team.