NAIROBI, Kenya, Jul 4- Col. (Rtd) Rogers Mbithi has been moved from Wilson Airport as commandant of the National Police Airwing and will now be based at the police headquarters.
According to sources privy to the move, Mbithi was moved from the police airwing after falling out with the military.
In changes by President Uhuru Kenyatta in 2020, all the NPS choppers and planes were placed under the National Air Support Department (NASD), which is run by military personnel.
But Mbithi, sources say, differed on them on how to run the fleet.
Under his leadership, Mbithi saw the unit acquire up to ten choppers and seven fixed wing planes.
“He introduced major reforms but the new changes introduced in 2022 slowed down everything,” a senior police officer aware of the behind-the-scenes happenings told Shahidi News.
Of great concern, the officer who sought anonymity said all the choppers are now grounded.
Officials at the Kenya Police Airwing are said to be engaging in a tussle with the military commanders from the Kenya Air Force who are in charge of the newly created NASD.
With the country gearing to the general elections in weeks, the tussle is said to have caused major concerns among authorities.
As a result, Mbithi has been replaced by the Assistant Inspector General of Police Thomasa Kabute.
“As he takes over the new assignment, Mr. Kabute brings a wealth of experience and enormous capacity to take the Unit to greater heights. Col. (Rtd) Mbithi hands over the baton to his successor having steered NPS Airwing in the right direction during his tenure,” NPS said in a statement posted on social platforms on Monday.
The NPS Airwing is a Unit of the National Police Service based at Wilson Airport in Nairobi.
It is established to support various functions of the service such as aerial support, emergency evacuations and other functions of security interest.
“We congratulate the officers for their previous services and wish them all the best in their new assignments,” reads the statement.
NASD is a multi-agency unit created to consolidate and efficiently utilize national aviation assets.
During the launch of NASD, the president emphasized its mandate to provide “centralized management of national aviation assets for optimal utilization, management and serviceability of air assets IOT enhance safety, swift response and quality of aviation services in line with the various stakeholders’ core mandates.”
The department is supposed to manage choppers from key government ministries and agencies such as KDF, Kenya Wildlife Service, Kenya Forest Service, Kenya Electricity Transmission Company (KETRACO), and Kenya Pipeline Company.
When NASD took over, all the planes there were functional but there is none flying now, sources who spoke to Shahidi News said.
One of the police choppers, an Agusta Westland AW119, which is among the new fleet acquired by the service crashed on June 13, 2020, in Embu and has not been repaired or replaced.
Another one crashed in 2016 in Mathare slums, Nairobi.
The Agusta Westland 139 police helicopter was on routine operations when it crashed in Mathare 4 A, Nairobi.
With the crashes, the National Police Service was left with only five choppers.
They are all grounded.
Want to send us a story? Contact Shahidi News Tel: +254115512797 (Mobile & WhatsApp)
