Residents of Noonkopir village in Kitengela, Kajiado East Sub County, are up in arms over increased cases of insecurity despite a recently commissioned police post in the area.
The abandoned police post has been in existence for eight years now.
Distressed residents say insecurity incidents including theft, mugging, robbery, and rape have become rampant in the populous estate.
The police post was constructed in 2015 courtesy of the National Government Constituency Development Fund (NG-CDF) in collaboration with locals but remained nonfunctional.
Interestingly, the same project was recently allocated an additional Ksh 5 million NG – CDF for renovation and expansion.
Angry locals questioned why the current leadership allocated more funds to renovate the non-functional police post, commissioned it without the deployment of any police officers, and went on to close it.
They say the contractor did shoddy work which only entailed painting the existing block and staff quarters.
A spot check of the police post depicts a picture of a deserted structure, in an area with open dangerous septic tanks, without a fence, with not a single police officer. Staff quarters are without a pit latrine, and there is poor ventilation with no electricity connection. The post has been vandalized with a section of gutters missing.
Locals now allege that the project is a cash cow for rogue public servants misusing taxpayers’ money. They demanded transparency and accountability of the funds used for the project even as they issued a notice of demonstrations against the “white elephant” project.
When contacted on the phone, Isinya Sub County Police Commander Patrick Manyasi said while the police post has been commissioned it is not habitable for police officers.
On his part, Kajiado East MP Kakuta Mai Mai says he observed “low standard construction works during the commissioning” and ordered the contractor to redo the project. The lawmaker was however unclear as to why he went ahead to commission the facility having noticed the anomalies. He also declined to confirm whether or not the contractor had been paid.
