Grounded cars, starving detainees as cash crunch hits police stations
Officers from Huruma Police Station pushing their vehicle after its ignition failed on August 14, 2020.
What you need to know:
- Police stations that are still using non-lease vehicles were the hardest hit because they rely on cash to buy fuel and service them.
Multiple interviews with police bosses and accountants revealed a sad state of affairs, where some officers are forced to fuel vehicles and buy stationery out-of-pocket.
Police officers have raised a red flag over delayed disbursement of funds for operations and failure by the State to settle pending bills, which may affect the feeding of suspects in cells should suppliers withdraw their services.
Multiple interviews with police bosses and accountants revealed a sad state of affairs, where some officers are forced to fuel vehicles and buy stationery out-of-pocket.
Through an Executive Order after assuming office in September last year, President William Ruto gave the National Police Service (NPS) financial autonomy, with the Inspector-General of Police becoming the accounting officer.
Delinking the police budget from the Ministry of Interior fulfilled President Ruto’s pledge to free law enforcement agencies from executive stranglehold.
However, nine months down the line, police have questioned the slow pace in the disbursement of funds that risk compromising the country’s internal security, even as it emerged that a struggle over control of the funds between the ministry and NPS could be to blame.
“We are yet to receive operations cash for the third and fourth quarters, which could largely interfere with our work,” a senior police officer told Nation.
He said police stations that are still using non-lease vehicles were the hardest hit because they rely on cash to buy fuel and service them.
“Stations with leased vehicles can at least manage to get fuel and repair services,” a police officer disclosed. Another senior officer based at Vigilance House said they have received complaints from different regions that some suppliers were threatening to withdraw their services.
“Those delivering foodstuff to the stations have not been paid for the past 10 months. Very soon you will hear of cases of suspects going hungry,” the officer said.
Another senior officer in the city said the police would soon stop arresting suspects because they “cannot feed them from their own pockets.”
“I am forced to buy stationery from my own pocket to prepare charge sheets and even hire a taxi to ferry suspects to court because my station has no leased vehicle,” the officer said.
Nation made several attempts to reach out to Inspector-General of Police Japhet Koome, his deputy Noor Gabow, Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki and Principal Secretary Raymond Omollo on Sunday and yesterday in vain.
Their phones went unanswered and they did not respond to text messages. On Sunday, police spokesperson Dr Resila Onyango neither confirmed nor denied the claims, only promising to call back with an answer. Yesterday, Dr Onyango said she had no response on the matter.
As the accounting officer of the National Police Service, the IG is required to keep the Interior cabinet secretary updated on all financial matters and provide information and reports as may be directed by the cabinet secretary.
In a communiqué dated September 15, 2022 addressed to former IG Hillary Mutyambai, ex-Treasury Cabinet Secretary Ukur Yattani said:
“You must comply and familiarise yourself with the Constitution, the PFM Act 2012, the PFM Regulations (National Government) of 2015, the Public Procurement and Disposal Act of 2015 and Public Audit Act of 2015 and various other laws and regulations, directives and circulars issued by the National Treasury from time to time.”
The IG is also required to attend in-person meetings of accounting officers called by Treasury CS to deliberate on public finance management issues. The meetings are meant to ensure close contact and cooperation between ministries, State departments, agencies and the National Treasury.
Yesterday, police officers challenged IG Koome to intervene and help save the situation to ensure seamless operations.
“We urge the IG to move faster and forestall a possible crisis within the service that could compromise security situation across the country,” they said.
Last year, the Head of State also implemented the Judiciary Fund, with a promise to scale up the budgetary allocation to the Judiciary by an additional Sh3 billion annually over the next five years.
