Why remaining police helicopter won’t fly

The only remaining police helicopter is grounded because the main rotor system bought from suppliers in Ukraine last year had only two flight hours left and has since expired.

The National Police Air Wing (NPSA) bought the system comprising five blades for the MI-17 helicopter, registration 5Y-EDM at the cost of Sh13 million.

The system had already done 27 flight hours and the NPSA officials were told as much but they still went ahead and bought it. Ideally, this means that the chopper could only fly from Nairobi to Mombasa after which the life of the rotor would end, grounding the chopper. The mess is being attributed partly to turf wars at the police air wing.

The Interior ministry’s strategic communications director, Mwenda Njoka, on Tuesday said the matter was under investigation.

SEVERAL MONTHS

Mr Njoka said the blades remained at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport for several months before they were cleared. “We confirm that they were bought at Sh13 million. There was also a duty of Sh3 million paid to Kenya Revenue Authority,” he added.

“There are so many issues at the air wing including turf wars and the ministry is already investigating some of them. The ministry is concerned about the wars which are negatively affecting operations.”

“It has been very difficult and it is also a fact that the air wing is not managed well. This is compounded by the presence of other established networks and cartels at the police headquarters, the ministry and at the air wing,” Mr Njoka said.

“A director was appointed and the commandant of the police air wing directed to handover but he has not done so up to now,” he lamented.

Mr Njoka also confirmed that civilians were being trained using the police aircraft. Investigations by the Nation revealed that one of the trainees is well known by a senior government official and a former police boss.  

“We have information that some members of the public have been trained using police aircraft, against the regulation. The matter is being investigated,” said Mr Njoka.

In August 2013, for example, two pilots who had been taken to Mombasa for the final training before acquiring licences had to return to the unit as the aircraft was being used to train civilians.

The officers had gone to Mombasa in the air wing’s Caravan registration 5YGSU for the final training. Mombasa’s Moi International Airport had been seen as convenient.

However, the officers, Inspector Luke Obiero and Inspector Robert Chepkwony, were booked in a hotel and would see the aircraft leave the airport carrying other people as they remained in their hotel rooms. The two were under the command of Superintendent James Kabo.

The helicopter used by senior government officials has been grounded for the last three months.

It was the only helicopter left and now the unit faces serious challenges in patrolling borders, in rapid-response work, in anti-terrorism flights and in assisting ground forces.

The unit has four MI-17 helicopters, registration numbers: 5Y-STA, 5Y-SFA, 5Y-EDM, and 5Y-UKW. Three are not serviceable, while the 5Y-UKW has been grounded since it was involved in an accident in Kapsabet where then assistant minister Orwa Ojode (now deceased) and then Commissioner of Police Maj-Gen Hussein Ali escaped unhurt. The government now plans to lease at least five aircraft for the service.

The air wing’s deputy director, Rogers Mbithi, however, said the unit had ordered other blades and that the helicopter would soon be serviced.

Though the blades were bought during his tenure, Mr Mbithi on Tuesday said he did not know how much they cost.

“I think they were bought by the Israelis, who are servicing our aircraft,” he said.

SERIOUSLY INJURED

The ministry is also investigating the circumstances under which the Administration Police Service’s only aircraft, a Bell 407, registration 5Y-RDU, crashed in Ukunda.

The pilot, Superintendent Mbeni Kanampiu, and an engineer sustained slight injuries but the aircraft has been written off. It was the second Bell aircraft belonging to the police that has crashed. The wreckage is said to have been brought to Nairobi but some parts are said to be missing.

The unit has another helicopter, a Bell 206 L4, which is serviceable but has a faulty turbine, suggesting it might have been operated by a pilot who did not understand it well. Investigations show that spare parts for the aircraft have been procured on several occasions only to disappear.

The Office of the President has also warned that infighting at the police air wing division is affecting its operations.

The wars pitting the unit’s director against his deputy, the Nation learnt, revolve around procurement of parts, maintenance and training of pilots.

John Patrick Owino, a senior assistant inspector-general, is the director and the unit's former commandant, Rodgers Mbithi, is his deputy.