Waning elite squads

By HUDSON GUMBIHI

[email protected]

They have had the reputation of being fast and first to the scene.

Tales abound of their spider web networks and tentacles that infiltrate the underworld. And some among them have hogged adjectives for their legendary sharp-shooting skills.

Although they have occasionally been accused of being trigger-happy, and for using the badge as a shield when committing crimes, Nairobians have generally appreciated their crime-busting capabilities.

They are the elite police squads, amorphous units that deal with specific kinds of crime. Police chiefs have over the years created them to deal with special crimes or tame growing insecurity. 

Little is known about their structures, budget, operations and identities of officers involved except the occasional glimpse the public gets at scenes of crime after their rare breakthroughs.

And as crime rates spiral in the city, one unanswered question lingers: Where are the special police squads? Their best days seem to be in the past, as The Nairobian found out.

The Flying Squad, one of the most prominent police units, is a sorry imitation of the vibrant force it was a few years back. Formed 21 years ago, the unit’s best years were the 1990s, when it unmasked and stopped hardcore criminals, including the dreaded trio of Rasta (Bernard Matheri), Wacucu (Anthony Ngugi Kanagi) and Wanugu (Gerald Wambugu Munyeri).

Its mission was to tackle bank robberies and car thefts. With their famous Peugeot 504 station wagons – a vehicle nicknamed Simba in some city neighbourhoods – the squad made its presence felt.  

“When the Flying Squad was created, issues of carjacking were stopped, but somehow along the way things changed because of corruption. The units can perform if left to operate on their own without the interference of seniors from headquarters,” security expert Captain (Rtd) Simiyu Werunga told The Nairobian.

Current head of Flying Squad Nyale Munga, who is an Assistant Commissioner of Police, however, said his officers are as active as ever and are not facing any grave challenges.

But our inquiries indicate the squad based at Nairobi Area Police headquarters is not only starved of resources but largely exists only in name.

George Musamali, a former GSU officer, said the Flying Squad and other police units have failed to deliver because their formation is normally a knee-jerk reaction to crime challenges of the moment.

Police sources also believe some squads have served no useful purpose, apart from being used as avenues for enriching officers attached to them.

“They are not official entities of the Police Service but taskforces formed for specific purposes. Normally, it is the prerogative of the Inspector General and his deputies to decide what the units get, and therefore, they have no budget,” Werunga said.

There are also claims that the Flying Squad, Special Crime Prevention Unit (SCPU) and November Squad duplicate roles.

The Flying Squad has less than 200 officers spread across the country, with 70 detectives being attached to the SCPU while the November Squad has 10 officers.

Other squads formed in the past few years include Anti-Narcotics Unit (ANU), Anti-Terrorism Police Unit (APTU), Kanga, Kwekwe, Rhino, Spider and Eagle.

Kanga, Kwekwe, Rhino, Spider and Eagle squads have since been disbanded.

Kwekwe, Rhino and Spider were formed to suppress the Mungiki sect.

Just like the struggling Flying Squad, whose other job is to pursue kidnappers, the November Squad and SCPU are thought to be facing challenges as they try to remain relevant.

During last year’s recruitment for the top positions of the National Police Service, most senior officers who appeared before the interviewing panel were in agreement that there is an overlap of roles by the elite units.

Some said they had plans of scrapping the squads while others promised to review and redefine the roles of the units.

Almost five months since David Kimaiyo was appointed as the Inspector General of Police, the elite squads remain in a disorganised state as criminals roam about without the fear of being stopped.

By end of last year, with its 70,000 officers, Kenya had a police to population ratio of 1:551. The United Nations recommends a ratio of 1:400.

During the 2012/2013 financial year, Sh65.9 billion was set aside for the police. But recently Kimaiyo asked for Sh150 billion from the Treasury to adequately fund police operations.

The police boss said the money would be used to buy police vehicles and pay salaries over the next two years.

The November Squad under the Nairobi Provincial Criminal Investigation Officer (PCIO) has one vehicle yet it is supposed to hunt down bank robbers and police imposters.

Overall, the units lack modern technology to deal with new crime trends. Their weaknesses and inadequacies were exposed last year when GSU marksmen had to be called to flush out a hardcore criminal holed up in a residential flat in Buru Buru estate.  

Even though funding is being cited as the main reason of failure of the squads, the case for APTU and ANU – which deal with transnational crimes of terror and drugs – is different.

The two get reasonable logistical support from donors yet terrorists and drug traffickers have not stopped testing the capacity and ability of Kenya’s security apparatus.

Elite squads officers, who talked to The Nairobian on condition of anonymity, said they have been starved of resources that could boost performance. They claimed some of their seniors misappropriate the money meant for the specialised units.

Acting head of SCPU Naoh Katumo dismissed the underperformance view. He partly also blamed the public for withholding information on criminals.

“We are doing our work and there is no overlapping (of roles). It is the public that is not helping us with information while the issue of funding can best be answered by the Inspector General of Police,” he said.

When reached, neither Kimaiyo nor Johnstone Kavuludi of the National Police Service Commission were willing to comment on the matter.

Kimaiyo referred us to the director of Directorate of Criminal Investigation Ndegwa Muhoro, who was unavailable while Kavuludi referred us back to the Inspector General.

In the meantime, Embakasi South MP Irshad Sumra has defended the Police Service and its structures saying they are not to blame for the rise in crime in the city.

Sumra told The Nairobian that city police are underfunded besides being overwhelmed by the workload as a result of the wide police to public ratio.