The ghetto life of a Kenyan police officer

• News reports involving police officers in this country are punctuated more by corruption claims rather than gallant exploits in the fight against crime.

• As a result, many have come to believe that the force is populated by men and women who have little to show for their commitment to maintaining law and order.

• But these vilified men and women work and live in the most dehumanising conditions. As Vigilance House gears up for reforms, many hope the situation will change for the better

Among the stations that benefitted from this project was the Mbaraki Police Lines in Mombasa, one of the largest police accommodation quarters in the country.

The Mbaraki project was intended to bring to life colonial-era structures that had existed side-by-side with modern-ish flats (christened Mugoya) that were built by the Moi administration, but the derelict state of the houses gave the contractors little room for improvement.

The largest police housing project in the country is West Park, which consists of 115 four-bedroom maisonettes, 288 three-bedroom flats and another 122 two-bedroom flats.

The project, which started in 1987, took a staggering 24 years to complete due to a land ownership dispute between the police and Wilson Mutumba Women’s group, who had laid claim to the 27-hectare land on which the estate stands.

But West Park has done little to ease the biting shortage of housing for police officers, forcing Vigilance House to take the leasing route.

Commissioner Matthew Iteere says that, since 2004, the department has leased 1,536 houses across the country. Currently, 955 housing units, four police canteens and four barracks are under construction.

On top of these accommodation woes is a growing lack of office space, especially in the newly-created police divisions.

Makadara police division, for instance, is headquartered at the Industrial Area Police Station, implying that the existing offices have to be shared by the OCPD, the DCIO, the deputy OCPD, and the OCS and his two deputies, among others.

The same applies to Dagoretti Division, headquarterd at Kabete Police Station. It is against this worrying backdrop that the force is gearing up for reforms, and Mr Iteere, probably fearing for the worse, has urged concerned parties to channel adequate funds and resources to equip the force.

Critics, however, argue that the putrescence within the force, as detailed in the Ransley Report, has little to do with funding and a lot to do with individual choices.

Retired Judge Philip Ransley, who chaired a national task force on police reforms three years ago, reported that there were serious management problems arising from, among others, poor leadership, patronage, arbitrary transfers, cronyism, undue political influence, wrong placement, disconnect between the lower ranks and their seniors, outright corruption and low staff morale.

That low morale has been exacerbated by extremely poor working conditions. Should you dial 999 seeking urgent police help, chances are that the lone, battered car at the station will have an empty fuel tank.

Some stations are allocated as little as 10 litres per day, and that can barely take them through half a day.

As a result, officers commanding stations, who face the heat should insecurity rise in their areas of jurisdiction, are forced to device ways to fuel their official cars.

An immobile police officer can barely enforce law and order, and, with the advent of cybercrime, drugs and arms trafficking, terrorism and maritime piracy, it is important that the force gets the right support from the government.

It is discouraging, therefore, that some police stations still use typewriters for their administrative duties.

zangira@ke.nationmedia.com