Sunday, February 5, 2023 – President William Ruto is under pressure from the National Police Service (NPS) to revoke his predecessor Uhuru Kenyatta’s directive on police choppers.
Police bosses want to regain control of their choppers, a mandate which Uhuru transferred to the National Air Support Department (NASD) under Kenya Air Force.
The Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) informed the former Chief Justice David Maraga-led taskforce on police reforms that they were not receiving enough services since the choppers and planes were transferred to the military.
Besides revoking the directive which granted Kenya Air Force full mandate, police also demanded to be given back all aviation equipment previously allocated to them.
Cops also demanded to be granted autonomy to procure choppers and planes.
“Return the Police Air Equipment and the procurement and maintenance budget to the National Police Service,” the police bosses insisted.
“Equip the Marine Police Unit in Kilindini, Lamu, Lake Baringo, Kisumu, Port Victoria, with the relevant equipment and personnel including speed boats, coxswains, divers, boat engineers,” they added.
At the same time, cops lamented that Uhuru’s directive had rendered over 50 trained police pilots jobless.
The prison service also claimed that it lacks its own planes for emergency operations despite having qualified personnel, some of whom were seconded to the Police Air Wing.
The Kenyan DAILY POST.