Sh20m police house idle months after DP launch

Lanet Police Station was defaced the same day it was launched by Deputy President William Ruto. [Kipsang Joseph, Standard]

Officers at Lanet police station are yet to occupy a new building two months after it was commissioned and are still operating from semi-permanent structures in the same compound.

The Sh20 million building was funded by the National Government-Constituency Development Fund (NG-CDF) in Bahati, which is represented in Parliament by Kimani Ngunjiri.

The building was launched by Deputy President William Ruto on December 18 last year in the presence of the officer commanding the Station.

“The officers are living like Moses, who saw Canaan but never got there. It is unfortunate that despite consuming millions in government resources, the new building is just gathering dust,” said an officer who did not wish to be named.

After commissioning the building, Dr Ruto held a rally at the venue, where his allies castigated Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i.

Deputy President William Ruto at Lanet Police Station during the launch. December 18, 2021. [Courtesy]

As soon as the rally ended, a team of administrators and senior county police officers went to the station and supervised its defacing; painting out branding of the station as an NG-CDF project and removal of a plaque indicating that Ruto was the one who had commissioned it. The signage at the building’s entrance was also removed.

The then Rift Valley Regional Commissioner George Natembeya however said: “We are yet to establish who was behind the defacing of the project. The police station building was yet to be officially handed over to the National Police Service.”

He faulted Mr Ngunjiri for “failing to adhere to the set code of conduct” while handing over the project.

“No communication was done to the office of the Inspector General. No security commanders were invited to the event to receive the building. It, however, remains a government building constructed with public funds,” said Mr Natembeya.

He said the MP erred in commissioning the critical infrastructure, noting that this interfered with the installation of security features. “A police station is a sensitive place. Among other things, we have armouries in police stations. It was shocking to see the MP take civilians through the entire plan of the building,” he said.

Prior to his resignation to contest for the Trans Nzoia governor seat, Natembeya said the building would later be opened once the right procedure was followed.

Speaking to The Standard, Mr Ngunjiri regretted that the building was yet to be in use.

“After the defacing, they claimed they were investigating the matter. That is a pure lie because it was their people who did it with instructions from above. They have never reverted to us,” said Ngunjiri.

A defaced wall at Lanet Police Station. [Courtesy]

He explained that following the standoff, his office closed the building awaiting a response from the Interior ministry.

“It is regrettable that the officers are still struggling to work within congested rooms. We are hoping to get a response from them soon,” said the lawmaker.

Efforts to get a comment from the current Rift Valley Regional Commissioner Mohamed Maalim were futile. 

“I will revert to you once I am done with ongoing security meetings,” Maalim told The Standard.

By the time of going to press, there was no word from him.