Ticking time bomb: Sorry state of police officers' houses at volatile border

The face of Kenya police residence at Sondu police station in Kericho county, the houses look inhabitable. The cracked houses and mud walled structures the officers use are an eye sore compared to the other stations that are well build.Furthermore, the pathetic structures are shared among officers. (Photo: Denish Ochieng/Standard)

Sondu Police Station, situated along the border of Kisumu and Kericho counties, is a disaster waiting to happen.

Both the office block and staff houses are an eyesore and resemble shacks in some of Kenya’s slums.

The mud holding the walls together is falling off.

Doors and windows are held together by tiny rusty hinges that cannot resist even a small push by a ten-year-old child.

There is no fence and cows, goats, sheep and donkeys roam the compound at will.

Residents living in the neighbourhood also walk through the compound at will.

CATTLE RUSTLERS

Welcome to Sondu Police station. This is the place where police officers tasked with fighting deadly cattle rustlers work and live.

The officers would be sitting ducks in case of an attack.

Officers at the station spoke of a harsh working environment, painting a picture that is in stark contrast to the ongoing police reforms.

Although police officers working in Kisumu County and other county headquarters work and live in better environments, their colleagues in far-flung outposts live and work in deplorable conditions.

A senior officer at Sondu who spoke to The Standard on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals from his bosses, said the poor housing situation was being addressed.

“We are embarrassed and stressed but the Government is doing something. We really feel exposed but the good news is that something is being done,” he said.

There is no barrier to separate the residential area from the report office, and people at the waiting bay can easily monitor what goes on in the residential area.

Officers and their children can be seen getting in and out of the dilapidated structures, with some said to be secretly renting houses outside the station to offer their families decent shelter.

Situated in an area where cattle rustling is the norm, officers fear lack of fencing may expose them to possible attacks by bandits, who have been perpetrating cattle raids along the Kisumu-Kericho border.

A similar picture is evident at Rabuor Police Post in Nyando, where officers have to contend with the torn and rusty iron sheet roofs that cannot protect them from heavy rainfall.

At Kombewa Police Station in Seme Sub-county, located at the heart of Kombewa market, and sandwiched between residential houses, new recruits are said to be sharing old structures as senior officers enjoy the ambiance of the new structures.

Meanwhile, more than 150 police officers attached to Kisii Central Police Station are living in buildings that were built during the colonial era.

A number of officers are sharing the few available units while the building housing the cells also houses the offices of the OCS, the traffic police and deputy OCS.

Over 15 criminal investigation officers attached to the station are also forced to share a single office with two desks.

All these officers also stay more than five kilometres from Kisii town in a rented apartment at Gesonso shopping centre.

 IN CONTENTION

The land on which the station lies has been at the centre of a dispute for over 10  years, with sources saying a senior politician from the region has been claiming ownership of the land.

Last year, the County Lands Board started a programme that will ensure Kisii Police Station gets a title deed.