NAIROBI, Kenya, Oct 26- The National Police Service has leased 40 sport utility vehicles to increase their effectiveness and rapid response to incidents of crime. This comes ahead of the elections next year.
The locally assembled vehicles, Volkswagen Tiguan, were leased to meet the ever-growing workload of the service, through a leasing deal with RentCo Africa Limited.
The service has so far leased over 3,200 vehicles through the same deal.
The NPS Director of Planning and Logistics Patrick Ndunda who represented the Inspector General during the handing over said the leasing deal, which began in 2013, has boosted police mobility and effectiveness.
“To be able to uphold the rule of law for a safe and secure society, the police service needs vehicles that are fuel-efficient, reliable, and with adequate safety features. We are proud to add these locally assembled vehicles to our fleet as we are also helping build our economy,” Ndunda said.
The DT Dobie managing director Chris Ndala said the vehicles had many safety features and other features to tackle off-road terrain.
“The vehicles have many safety features including Anti-locking Brake System (ABS) and stability control. We also place great emphasis on top-class servicing, maintenance, and repairs. We also have substantial stocks of genuine spares which carry warranties,” Ndala said.
He added that for over eight years DT Dobie had been assembling vehicles at the Kenya Vehicle Manufacturers (KVM) in Thika and that they were working with the government to expand the local assembly of passenger cars, buses, and light commercial vehicles, and big trucks.
This, he said, would reduce the importation of used vehicles and instead provide jobs for Kenyans.
Leasing is fast gaining momentum in the country with most institutions preferring to outsource vehicles, departing from the tradition of owning them.
It is preferred because the leasing company is responsible for repairs, fuel, insurance, and maintenance of the vehicles. The police service will spread out the cost and when the lease is over, they simply return the vehicles to the leasing company.
In January last year, the Ministry of Interior advertised a tender for the leasing of 1290 vehicles.
The police service was allocated 970 vehicles including 500 all-terrain four-wheel-drive vehicles, 180 double cabin, and 50 medium-utility passenger vehicles.
The companies have to offer after-sale service and must have five dealerships in Nairobi, Kisumu, Eldoret, and Nakuru or Meru to provide normal services to the leased vehicles and act as referral centres for major repairs of vehicles in surrounding regions.
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