Administration Police

The Administration Police (abbreviated as A.P.) is a paramilitary security organ belonging to National Police Service of the Republic of Kenya. It was formed in 1958 when it took over from the Tribal Police, which had been established through an ordinance in 1929.

The Administration Police is a department under the Ministry of Interior and Coordination of National Government. Its headquarters are in Nairobi. The PC Chapter 63 of the Laws of Kenya states that the Police Force includes the force defined in section 2 of the Police Act as well as the Administration Police Force established under the Administration Police Act; Chapter 75 Section 2 states that the term Police officer means either/both a Police officer and/or an Administration Police officer. The Administration Police force is headed by Deputy Inspector of Police (DIG) Noor Gabow OGW.[1]

The Administration Police has five major units:

  • Security of Government Buildings (SGB)- Responsible for VIP protection and securing vital government installations, headquartered in Nairobi.
  • Rapid Deployment Unit (RDU)- Emergency deployment and rapid response unit, headquartered in Embakasi
  • Border Police Unit (BPU)- Border patrol and security, headquartered in Kanyonyo Kitui
  • Critical Infrastructure Protection Unit headquartered in Athi River, Machakos
  • Anti Stock Theft Unit- Stock theft prevention unit, headquartered in Gilgil Nakuru

The AP is equipped to tackle any eventuality regarding law breaking or emergency.

Rapid Deployment Unit (RDU)

It is the equivalent of the General Service Unit of the Kenya Police Service. It is also known as Radi (lightning) in Swahili. It was formerly headed by SACAP Mr. Davis Mawinyi as the first C.O, then by AIG Mr. Elijah Osodo.

Throughout the 1960s AP was rapidly deployed regularly to fight the shifta menace in North Eastern Kenya. It was deployed to curb rampant poaching in the 1970s and 80s. It was also deployed to combat lawlessness in the northern Rift Valley region in the 1980s The RDU was initially composed of officers seconded from other divisions, as well as APTC (Administration Police Training College) staff and coursemen to specifically counter certain hostilities. Ad-hoc units were also formed within the RDU to address specific localized situations. These include the Anti-Shifta Unit, formed in 1980 and based at Garissa District, the Anti-Bandit Unit, formed in 1986 and based in Tana River and Lamu districts, and the Rapid Anti-Bandit Unit, formed in 1997, and based at AP Training College.

Due to the short term nature of these operations, they were often unsustainable and had limited success. To counter this, the Rapid Deployment Unit was set up in 2000. The Unit receives support through additional tactical training by the U.S. Marines. As a result, it has specifically trained and prepared personnel on standby, who possess ready supplies, transport and support material for deployment. The unit receives regular training and refresher courses. It operates independently of Administration Police in their area of deployment, and so it does not affect normal operations.

The unit operates under a Commandant, and may be deployed to any part of Kenya to respond for a limited duration to any emergency or threat to law and order.

Border Police Unit (BPU)

The unit was formed on 1 July 2008 as Rural Border Patrol Unit. It was first based at A.P Senior Staff College, Emali and the idea of a border patrol unit was brought up by the then Senior Deputy Commandant (I) of A.P(SAIG)/(Egypt 2) Mr Alhaji Omar Shurie who is a senior field craft and tactics/jungle warfare instructor and was to be known as Border Patrol Unit. But due limited facilities and equipment it was not fully operational by then.

The unit has its headquarters at Kanyonyo in Kitui County. It is headed by a Commanding Officer (C.O) with AIG Otieno who also served as Deputy C.O. at Rapid Deployment Unit as the first C.O. The commander of the unit has since been upgraded to that of a Commandant.

The Unit has a training unit called the Border Patrol School also based at Kanyonyo with SSP Mr Joshua Wambua (a decorated jungle warfare/ ballistics/ forensics instructor) as the C.O. Its instructors trained both locally and internationally and still striving to be a leading border patrol and border operations training school in Eastern and Central Africa.

The unit has specialized teams, that is the "Marine unit"- BORSOPTS - Border and Sea Operations Team and a Special Weapons and Tactics Team which have already had successful field operations within the country including the Yumbis attack 2015. In terms of general equipment and logistics, the Unit has moved miles away and is now ahead of its mother unit the Rapid Deployment Unit.

Recently the National Police Service acquired Armoured Personnel Carriers (APCs) from China's Defense Corp Norinco which is a great milestone in modernisation of the Police.

In September 2018 President Uhuru Kenyatta announced major plans to reorganize the National Police Service. This plan included among others the strengthing and renaming it Border Police Unit


The Anti-Stock Theft Unit (ASTU)

The Anti-Stock Theft Unit was established in 1965 as a formation of the Kenya Police. The unit is based in Gilgil and headed by a Commandant who is responsible for its administration, training and efficiency.

The mandate of this unit is to function as a specially trained mobile force to be used for anti-stock theft duties in accordance with Section 24 of the National Police Service Act, 2011:-[2]

Main Duties

a)Preventive work on stock-theft;

b) Stock –theft investigations;

c) Anti-stock theft operations;

d) Crowd Control by use of horses;

e) Counter Terrorism.

ASTU is mandated to move into areas prone to high incidence of stock theft and to remain there until the menace is reduced to a level manageable by the local police formations.

Trends in cattle rustling has assumed a commercial angle, traditional stock theft practices have given way to well organised bandits armed with lethal firearms. As a result, cattle rustling incidents in Kenya now invariably entail unacceptable loss of innocent human lives. The problem of cattle rustling has been further compounded by crossborder raiders from neighbouring countries.

Administration Police being more visible in the rural areas, in addition to providing border security as one of its core functions, Anti-Stock Theft Unit was in 2018 reconstituted as a unit of the Administration Police. The Commandant of Anti-stock Theft Unit now reports directly to the Deputy Inspector General-APS.

Presently, the unit has 13 field companies, with three platoons each, one mounted company and a headquarters company. Field companies are deployed mainly in the pastorolist prone areas of Rift Valley and Eastern Regions. The Mounted Company breeds and trains horses and camels primarily for use in patrol and crowd control.

The number of Anti-stock Theft Unit personnel stands at 2,500 and the same is being increased to reach 5,000.

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See also

References
  1. "Administration Police Home Page". Administration Police. Archived from the original on 16 January 2007. Retrieved 5 May 2016.
  2. "Anti-Stock Theft Unit". www.kenyapolice.go.ke. Kenya Police.
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