At least four prominent businessmen close to President William Ruto have won a single-sourced multi-billion tender to supply police choppers, Armored Personnel Carriers (APCs), and drones.
The businessmen have purchased the equipment from South Africa and Russia using their own money and will be refunded later, officials aware of the deal revealed.
They have already secured the equipment and according to insiders, they will be in the country anytime.
The three choppers acquired by police are mounted with guns.
A source said the equipment includes an attack helicopter which is an armed helicopter with the primary role of an attack aircraft, with the offensive capability of engaging ground targets such as enemy infantry, military vehicles and fortifications.
This has angered helpless police who said they do not know what is being acquired.
They argued they need choppers to carry personnel to sites not ones mounted with guns.
“We have technical teams that are supposed to look into the purchased equipment to be sure but we were not involved. We hear they are coming,” said an insider who is aware of the deals.
One of those who won the deal works in among others oil industry and the other is in communication sector.
“They are moneyed and offered to use their money to buy the equipment and will be refunded later. We had no option after the only chopper we had was taken by the DP for personal use exposing us,” added another officer.
The DP took a modern Augusta chopper from police and turned it for his personal use exposing police to many troubles.
The chopper was used in surveillance purposes. Also expected are APCs and drones for both police and military.
President William Ruto said at the weekend new police equipment including surveillance choppers are expected to be delivered in the country next month,
Ruto said the state-of-the-art weaponry also includes specialized vehicles such as Armored Personnel Carriers (APCs) and drones.
The equipment were acquired at a cost of Sh25 billion under a modern security modernization programme, he said.
This, Ruto noted, will help boost the ongoing efforts to curb insecurity across the country while safeguarding the lives of security personnel in the line of duty.
“We want to ensure our men and women have the necessary equipment to deal with crooks and criminals who are giving us problems,” Ruto said.
“We have decided that even choppers will have gunships. We will be hard on the criminals,” he said.
Speaking in Meru, Ruto said the government is committed to dealing decisively with all characters that have continued to threaten the country’s peace.
He said insecurity in various parts of the country was a result of the failure of the previous administrations to act.
The equipment, he stated, will be deployed to banditry-prone areas and other areas to help security officers who have continued to lose lives.
There has been an increase in al-Shabaab attacks in the North Eastern and Coastal regions which has resulted in deaths and injuries.
Similarly, bandits have in the past wrecked havoc until the government declared a full-scale operation backed by the military.
Ruto’s statement came after leaders from the region raised concerns over the rising insecurity.
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