President William Ruto’s move to deploy the military in the bandit-affected regions in the North of the Rift Valley, sparked mixed reactions, with many questioning its legality.
Appearing on Citizen TV’s Day Break, on Monday, February 20, the Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly Gladys Boss Shollei castigated former President Uhuru Kenyatta.
“Under the Uhuru regime, the police airwing was moved to the military. As we speak, the police have no airwing of their own such that when they go to such operations in bandit areas, they are not able to send air support,” she revealed.
According to Shollei, the army deployment would require the approval of the parliament but in the context of the North Rift operation, the military had been sent to support the National Police Service (NPS).
Countering her statement, Kisii Senator Richard Onyonka together with his Makueni counterpart Dan Maanzo stated that President Ruto required the National Assembly’s (NA) approve to okay the deployment.
“President Ruto needs to admit that he might not have known that permission must be sought from NA before deploying the military,”
“It’s illegal and unconstitutional. The President should take responsibility. It’s good to accept and correct for the future, Onyonka stated.
Former President Uhuru Kenyatta on September 2020, issued an Executive Order that would have crews in all government aircraft report to the Kenya Air Force Commander.
In the order, all aircraft owned by the National Police Service (NPS), Kenya Power, Kenya Forest Services (KFS), Kenya Wildlife Services (KWS) and other State agencies would be managed by Kenya Air Force.
Traditionally, the Kenya Army has its own fleet of helicopters run by the Joint Helicopter Command (JHC), a unit that was formed to replace the disbanded 50ACB (50-Air Calvary Battalion).
The Kenya Air Force, which is under the command of Major General Francis Ogolla, runs utility helicopters.
During Kenyatta’s term as Commander-in-Chief of the Defence Forces, military men were handed key civilian responsibilities in state institutions.
One of the most notable shifts was the appointment of Major General Mohammed Badi to head the Nairobi Metropolitan Services (NMS).
In the same breath, the Kenya Meat Commission was transferred to the Ministry of Defence where Brigadier James N Githaga saw a turnaround of fortunes in the then loss-making entity.
It was reported that before the military took over KMC, the facility handled an average of between 8-10 heads of cattle daily compared to over 300 heads of cattle being processed daily during their term.
After winning the August 2022 elections, the National Police Service sought the intervention of President Ruto in reverting the order of his predecessor.
The police bosses wanted to regain control of their choppers, a mandate which Uhuru transferred to the National Air Support Department (NASD) under Kenya Air Force.
In their submissions, the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) informed the former Chief Justice David Maraga-led taskforce that they were not receiving enough services since the choppers and planes were transferred to the military.
Additionally, Ruto’s administration through the Ministry of Agriculture regained control of the Kenya Meat Commission while Nairobi Governor disbanded the NMS thus taking full control of the running of Kenya’s capital city.
Source: kENYANS.CO.KE
