Bid to let police command Coast Guard unsettles military
Kenya Navy officers aboard MV Doria during a night patrol mission carried out jointly with the Kenya Coast Guard Service early last month.
The appointment of a senior police officer to lead the Kenya Coast Guard Service (KCGS) has unsettled the military, which is also concerned about an ongoing parliamentary audit of projects implemented by the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF).
Officers who spoke to Nation on condition of anonymity expressed reservations with the recent deployment of former police spokesperson Bruno Shioso to head KCGS, which, they maintained, has assets overseen by the Kenya Navy.
“The coast guard is headed by a director-general, who is appointed by the President on recommendation of the Kenya Coast Guard Service Council. We are concerned that Brigadier Vincent Naisho Loonena, a distinguished career naval officer, was shown the door even without the input of the council,” they said.
Kenya Navy, they noted, still supports KCGS operations through logistics, personnel and training.
“Is it not logical to have a DG who is conversant with operations of the Coast Guard? This establishment is sea going. The CS (Defence) unfortunately did not take into mind the cardinal point of giving KCGS independence gradually,” they said.
Well briefed
“It is either there is a mission to kill the service or trim it and transfer the remnants to the maritime police unconstitutionally,” they claimed. They also questioned whether President Ruto was well briefed in appointing a police officer to head KCGS.
“Will he command the ships at the sea from his office on land?” they posed.
Military officials insisted KCGS was an independent body whose director-general can only report to the Interior Cabinet secretary and not the Inspector-General of Police.
KCGS was yet to respond to queries by Nation about the concerns. While answering questions in Parliament last week, Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki acknowledged the existence of a command problem at KCGS.
“We have had a command issue there because the leadership [comprises military officers] ... [and] the head of the coast guard has not been ... under the command of the inspector-general of police and that has created enforcement issues,” Prof Kindiki told MPs. He said KCGS, because of the nature of their work which involved policing, was not part of the Kenya Navy.
“Their work is to enforce the law within Kenya’s territorial waters which means 12 nautical miles off the baseline of the Indian Ocean and all inland waters including Lake Naivasha, Lake Rudolf in Turkana and Lake Victoria,” he said, adding that the issue had been resolved with the appointment of Mr Shioso as the director-general.
Reached for comment on reports of discontent within the military, Prof Kindiki did not respond, Mr Shioso referred Nation to Prof Kindiki, while Interior Permanent Secretary Raymond Omollo also did not respond.
Defence Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale told Nation to reveal the identities of the KDF officers who had raised their concerns.
“Give their names because I don’t react to propaganda,” Mr Duale said. Calls and text messages to Defence Principal Secretary Patrick Mariru went unanswered. KDF Head of Strategic Communication Brigadier Zipporah Kioko said she was not in a position to address issues concerning the KCGS. “It’s best not to speculate,” she said.
KDF officers claimed that the multi-agency security team deployed for the joint operation to curb banditry in six North Rift counties was disjointed due to command issues where KDF officers are expected to take orders from the police.
Parliamentary approval
“It was prudent for the deployment of the military to be conducted after parliamentary approval so that the operation is fully under the control of the KDF.”
“The current scenario where KDF officers are expected to take commands from junior police officers does not augur well and we view it as a continued [disrespect to] the military,” they said.
Military officials also raised concerns over ongoing audit of projects implemented by KDF in the previous administration, arguing that the action by Parliament and the Defence ministry was not in good faith.
During his tenure, President Uhuru Kenyatta tasked KDF to execute some national projects and appointed military officials to key positions. He deployed a number of serving and retired officials to various state institutions, especially to revive under-performing agencies.
For instance, in 2020, the Nairobi City County Government, then led by Governor Mike Sonko and crippled by supremacy wars, was forced to cede key functions to the Nairobi Metropolitan Services (NMS) headed by Lt Gen Mohamed Badi. The functions have since reverted to the new county administration headed by Governor Johnson Sakaja.
NMS was tasked with running health, transport, public works and physical planning functions.
In 2021, Mr Kenyatta transferred the management of Kenya Meat Commission from the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries to the Ministry of Defence.
However, through an Executive Order released in January, President Ruto put KMC back under the Agriculture ministry.
Agriculture CS Mithika Linturi later explained that, although KMC was under his ministry, he would continue working with the military for efficiency.
“The military is part of the government and we must respect the good work they have done,” the CS said at the time.
In 2021, President Kenyatta and his Burundi counterpart Evariste Ndayishimiye launched the Kenya Shipyard Limited (KSL) in Kisumu. KSL is a State-owned ship-building and repair facility.
Military officers told Nation they felt targeted by a parliamentary investigation into the projects undertaken by KDF.
Last Tuesday, the National Assembly Defence, Intelligence and Foreign Relations Committee chaired by Belgut MP Nelson Koech inspected Uhuru Gardens National Monument and Museum, another of the projects carried out by KDF.
Not aware
Although an invite by the committee had indicated there would be a press conference at the venue, military officials manning the gates denied Nation access, saying, they were not aware of a visit by journalists.
Mr Koech told Nation the committee will visit all other projects implemented by KDF.
“We are questioning whether or not it was within their mandate to undertake such projects. They could have had a way of circumventing the procurement process and we shall visit all those projects and come up with a comprehensive report,” Mr Koech said.
Uhuru Gardens, which is located on Nairobi’s Lang'ata Road, is the site where Kenya’s founding fathers chose to celebrate Independence Day in 1963 and conferment of republic status in 1964. The land on which Uhuru Gardens sits was allocated to the KDF and, with the construction of the museum, then President Kenyatta said Kenyans would now be able to appreciate the sacrifices made by national heroes and heroines. President Ruto’s allies had, during his campaigns in the run-up to last year’s General Election, expressed concerns over what they referred to as the militarisation of state institutions by President Kenyatta.
Last December, three months into President Ruto’s administration, then Kenya Wildlife Service Director General Brig (Rtd) John Migui Waweru was sent on compulsory leave and replaced by Dr Erastus Kanga on an acting capacity. Dr Kanga was the Wildlife Secretary in the State Department of Wildlife.
Mr Koech last Tuesday pointed out that, this week, the committee will inspect Kabete Level Six Hospital, a project that was also being undertaken by the military.
“We will be there and visit other project sites to see how the money has been used and how the projects are being implemented,” he added. “It is the collective duty of the committee to tell whether the work is above board or not and give a detailed report.”
KDF, however, said the committee visited Uhuru Gardens as part of its routine oversight mandate.
“During the tour in the company of Vice Chief of Defence Forces Lieutenant General Francis Ogolla, the committee was briefed on the history, roles, organisation, and current operations of the museum,” read a statement by KDF after the committee’s tour.
After the briefing, the delegation visited the different museum galleries which commenced at the Tunnel of Martyrs, a memorial to Kenyans who lost their lives fighting for the country’s self-rule, their names forever etched on the tunnel.
A gallery dubbed the Birth of Kenya showcases the country’s path to modernisation, while a military gallery showcases military helicopters and other hardware that the KDF has used to secure the country’s borders from external aggression.
The galleries also have visuals and audio that can be played for an explained narration of what is on display.
At the military heritage gallery, and according to the KDF dispatch, the delegation was taken through the history of KDF since 1840.
‘Continued support’
“The chairperson, Hon Koech, thanked the KDF leadership for their continued support in getting the project done and affirmed his committee’s unwavering support toward the completion of the project, noting that deeper collaboration between the two organisations is a critical ingredient for better service to Kenyans,” the KDF statement added. Captain (Rtd) Byron Adera, a security expert and international relations consultant, told Nation yesterday that the concerns raised by the military were genuine.
“The coast guard should be under the Navy and the fact that it has been brought under police command is quite a miscalculated move.”
“[The decision] leaves a lot to be desired because there is no way you can put the army under command of the police. You can even see the problem we now have trying to quell banditry in the country,” said the former special forces officer.
