The recent declaration by the government that the Administration Police Unit will be abolished is ill-advised. The AP unit is as old as Kenya, which was declared a British colony in 1920.
With the establishment of the Kenya colony, the colonial authorities felt a need to control and effectively manage the rural areas using another arm of the police outside the Regular Police, which was mainly restricted to the policing of townships and settled areas.
The AP, then only known as “Tribal Police,” worked under the instructions of chiefs and their assistants and were answerable to the all powerful District Commissioners.
The chiefs’ system was a new concept in Kenya especially in Central and Eastern, which did not have traditional chiefs and were ruled through councils of elders where decisions were arrived at in a democratic way.
SMALL KINGS
But the colonialists needed a manageable number of leaders whom they could hold responsible for the behaviour of their people. In other words, they needed small kings and where they did not find them, they created them.
With the assistance of the Tribal Police, the chief became the administrator, magistrate and prison officer, all rolled into one.
The main purpose of the colonialists to establish colonies was to generate wealth, not to drain the pockets of the colonisers.
Towards Kenya’s independence in 1963, the chiefs were among the most-hated African lot. In fact, in 1964, only one year after independence, all the individuals who served as chiefs were retired in public interest.
BRUTAL COLONIAL RULE
They were too closely identified with the brutal colonial rule in the public’s eye and were swept out of office by the new minister for Home Affairs, the late Jaramogi Oginga Odinga.
Personally, I have worked as a chief for 18 years in different stations in Nairobi and retired as a senior chief. I can, therefore, authoritatively state that removing the APs from chiefs and their assistants is tantamount to expecting a castrated bull to increase your herd of cows.
One historical occasion of how valuable the Administration Police can be in maintaining law and order quickly comes to my mind.
During the aborted 1982 coup attempt, I was only in my second year as a chief. The coup plotters had announced over the radio that all regular police officers should remove their official uniforms and dress and conduct themselves as civilians.
MAINTAIN LAW AND ORDER
This directive was quickly trashed by the AP officers who instead moved fast into the streets to maintain law and order.
As the Kenya Army was deployed to the barracks to contain the mutineers, and the regular police remained immobilised, the rest of the Nairobi city and its environs were under the control of the AP dealing with hooligans and looters.
As the dust on the aborted coup settled, we were called for a one-month seminar at the AP Training College in Embakasi where we took stock on the impact of the aborted coup. The college commandant proudly informed us that over 40 per cent of the success in maintaining law and order in Nairobi and other areas was as a result of the efforts by the APs.
PRELIMINARY TRAINING
Even if the chiefs and their assistants will be subjected to paramilitary training as suggested by the Interior Cabinet Secretary Dr Fred Matiang’i, it will count for nothing without the complementary role of the APs.
For example, how does the CS expect a chief to man a whole location without the APs? By doing away with the APs, the government is creating a bigger problem than it is trying to solve. Let the APs remain.
Edward Karanja Kigondu, Senior Chief (Rtd), Nairobi.
