Elite officers on the spot over arrests
Zadock Angira
The officers who arrested senators Cleopas Malala (Kakamega), Christopher Lang’at (Bomet) and Steve Lelegwe (Samburu) are not your ordinary officers. They are a part of a crack unit.
The Special Services Unit (SSU) of the Directorate of Criminal Investigations is an elite unit that was established eight months ago.
Though a section of leaders including ODM leader Raila Odinga and Deputy President William Ruto have condemned the arrests, police yesterday maintained that the detentions were necessary as some of the senators had ignored police summons, adding that it was a coincidence the three were expected in the Senate for debate on the cash sharing formula.
More than 40 officers from the SSU squad were on Sunday tasked with tracking down the trio with clear instructions.
The officers, using over five vehicles, were deployed to track down the politicians, arrest and escort them to their home counties.
However, despite the hullabaloo and the drama that characterised the arrest of Malala, Lang’at and Lelegwe, it was later revealed that there were no serious allegations against them.
Top security officers were aware of the plan and it was agreed that it be executed by the SSU officers.
The unit has in the past been complimented for busting serious crimes. However, on August 3, some of its officers were arrested after they were found to have travelled to Matuu on an extortion spree.
The head of the Unit, Pius Gitari, launched investigations and charged the oficers in court.
As a result, Director of Criminal investigations George Kinoti directed all commanders to emulate Gitari’s action and take speedy and firm action against any rogue officer.
During the Monday arrests, there was, however, an indication of lack of synergy especially in Mumias where Malala was taken to and literally abandoned by the SSU detectives.
At the station, the local DCI boss was reluctant to receive the senator, saying he had no mandate to deal with the matter.
The head of the SSU team, a female officer, literally abandoned Malala at the Mumias Police Station claiming lack of cooperation and, at around 2am yesterday, walked to their vehicles and drove back to Nairobi, about 420 kilometres away.
Sets free
The senator then went to his car where he spent the night before he was released unconditionally a few hours later.
Police had initially planned to transfer Malala to Butere Police Station following protests by the locals, but later at around 9am, opted to set him free altogether.
Reports indicate that not even a report was made in the Occurrence Book about his stay at the station.
But where does the buck stop? Though the unit reports directly to Kinoti, some lawyers including Ahmednassir Abdulahi yesterday said the buck stops with Inspector General of Police Hillary Mutyambai since the service, according to the National Police Service Act, is under his overall and independent command.
“The drama surrounding the arrest of the three senators and the refusal of the Office of the Director of Public Prosecution to charge them with trumped up charges puts the person and the office of IG Mutyambai in the eye of the storm. You can’t find a more egregious, blatant abuse of power,” Ahmednassir said.
The unit, formerly known as the Special Crime Prevention Unit (SCPU), was formed after Kinoti disbanded the dreaded Flying Squad Unit and at the same time scaled it down to a smaller unit, the SCPU, and renamed it SSU.
Kinoti replaced the Flying Squad with a lean unit, Sting Squad Headquarters (SSH) that has only 50 officers to deal with armed robberies, kidnappings, and other serious offences.
Both the SSU and the SSH are linked to the Crime Research and Intelligence Bureau at the DCI headquarters, which handles intelligence operations.
The operation to nab the senators was initially well planned before the three teams embarked on a road trip to Maralal, Bomet and Mumias, covering a total of more than 1,000 kilometres away.
