The Kenya police Airwing department is on the spot after a report revealed that it has been receiving an allocation of Ksh1.2 million per week for non-existent expenditures.
The money was intended to fuel choppers that were being used as air support for the ground troops flashing Al-Shabaab from Boni forest but it emerged that the copters had been grounded for months yet the money was being released.
It is alleged that the taxpayers might have paid millions to keep the helicopters “in the air” despite the planes having not made a single flight in months.
Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) and the Internal Affairs Unit (IAU) have launched an investigation into what they term as embezzlement of funds.
According to People Daily, the information came to light after a whistleblower contacted the two agencies and informed them of the ongoings.
An example given on the report was that between January 11 to January 24, only one chopper, an Augusta Westland AW119 5Y-NPW, was operational and none of the crew or that aircraft ever visited Boni despite the operation cash being released, used and later purported to be accounted for.
This revelation comes only a few weeks after it was discovered that two new police copters that cost the taxpayers almost Ksh4.6 billion had been grounded.
The National Police Service has been unable to get insurance for the two planes, which means that they cannot be allowed to fly within Kenya’s airspace.
On June 29, 2018, Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i launched three brand new police helicopters, two AW139s and one A12 at Wilson Airport which were supposed to help beat back a surging crime wave.
It has now emerged that from the word go, there were tell-tale signs that should have rang alarm bells about the new planes after the choppers were said to have been passed as new but were second hand.
