War against crime gets major boost
Kenyan police are set to receive 212 vehicles from China valued at more than Sh500 million to step up its war on crime.
The first consignment of the cars is expected to arrive in the country this month as the country prepares itself for next year’s General Election.
The vehicles are being sourced from Chery Automobile Company Ltd, and will come with a three-year or 50,000-kilometre warranty.
The models that are being shipped into Kenya are the Chery Tiggo estate cars (41), Grand Tiger 4x4 double cabin pick-ups (160) and 11 Landmark SUV 4X4.
The Chery Tiggo estate car is similar to the Toyota Rav4 and goes for about Sh2.1, the Grand Tiger 4x4 double cabin pick-up (Sh2.6m) is similar to the Toyota double cabin and the Landmark SUV 4X4 (Sh2.8m) resembles a Toyota Prado.
A source said the government went for these types of vehicles because they could have acquired about 100 only if they had gone for Land Rovers or Toyota Land Cruisers. The two cost Sh4.7 million and Sh4.4 million respectively.
When the Nation tried to contact Police spokesman Erick Kiraithe for a comment over the matter, he did not pick his phone. Stantech Motors Ltd, which is based in Nairobi, won the tender to supply the cars that will cover the period 2011 to 2013.
Executive director Titus Ntuchiu said the company is wholly owned by Kenyans and has been operating in the country for the last 15 years. “Stantech was duly awarded the contract to supply the Kenya Police with our range of models as per the government’s supplies contract for the period,” Mr Ntuchui said.
He further said due to their quality and affordability, the vehicles had enabled them to make quick penetration into the market. Mr Ntuchui said parts for the vehicles are readily available at service centres they opened in Nairobi, Nakuru, Kisumu, Mombasa, Nyeri and Eldoret.
He said they will open other service centres in Meru, Embu, Garissa, Kitui and Malindi. “We have 264 employees who will be able to service and repair the vehicles,” he said, adding that they currently service more than 1,000 vehicles a month.
Mr Ntuchui dismissed media reports that it had donated 40 vehicles to the government. “Stantech or its international partners have not offered any free vehicles to the Kenyan Government and we dissociate ourselves from the allegations,” he said.
Chery Automobile Company Ltd has been in operation for about 15 years and has over 16 different vehicle models which are exported to more than 67 countries worldwide.
In Africa, the models are available in Algeria, Egypt, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Libya, Ghana and Sudan, among other countries. Other countries where the models are available include Brazil, India, Chile, Argentina, Australia, Singapore and Indonesia. They are also found in Europe
The company has 15 factories worldwide — including Brazil, Russia, Iran, Egypt, Indonesia, Syria and Uruguay. Chery produced 692,438 vehicles in 2010, the 21st largest output of any automaker in the world.
Last month, Internal Security minister George Saitoti said police were set to receive more vehicles to boost transportation of police officers. He said in the current financial year, the Ministry of Internal Security had been allocated Sh1.4 billion for vehicles.
“It is important that we ensure our officers have vehicles that can enable them to respond to cases effectively. We currently have a deficit,” Prof Saitoti said.
Internal Security assistant minister Orwa Ojode said police had a shortfall of about 800 cars, adding that they were still looking for more money from the Treasury to buy additional vehicles.
He said they expect to import 300 vehicles for the Administration Police, and another 300 for the Provincial Administration.
“There are many provincial officers who do not have vehicles yet they are required to perform and once the vehicles arrive they will be distributed equally,” said Mr Ojode.
He said security officers cannot respond to crime on time due to lack of transportation. “As we approach the polls, issues of security will be paramount. We don’t want our officers to be grounded when responding to cases,” the assistant minister said.
He said in light of terror threats, security agencies also need to have vehicles to ensure they respond faster and deal with such matters expeditiously.
Chinese cars started making inroads into Kenya, riding on low pricing three years ago. Traditionally, the government has been sourcing the vehicles from Britain, Germany and Japan.
An attempt to introduce Mahindra cars in the police in the 1990s failed after most of them were grounded due to lack of service centres and spare parts.
The Kenya Defence Force (KDF) has also bought Styer trucks from China, replacing the Mercedes Benz that has been its brand since 1972. Although the trucks were associated with accidents, the Department of Defence (DoD) value them, saying they are more powerful.
“The new trucks were chosen for scoring highly on reliability, performance, maintenance and affordability,” a DoD source said. It was observed that the serviceability of the Mercedes Benz had dropped and was seriously affecting the operations of KDF.
DoD did not go for Mercedez trucks also on grounds that at Sh9.9 million each, they were too expensive compared to Styers at Sh6 million. KDF has also bought China-made M-16 guns and helicopters like the Habin Z-9 being used at the war front in Somalia in fighting Al-Shabaab terrorists.
