Kitui
Police officers at Mangongoi Police Station spend more time looking for water than in local patrols to fight banditry.
According to the officer in charge of the station Mr. Emanuel Mbita, lack of water and poor network connectivity in the area are some of the major hurdles faced by the officers manning the facility.
Mbita told visiting MCAs from the Kitui County Assembly "Due to lack of water a lot of our time is wasted as officers have to look for water instead of conducting security operations, " Mr. Mbita's lamentation came out as the County Assembly Committee on Implementation visited the Station on routine oversight role of inspecting the status of the police posts being constructed by the county government.
Shock for Kitui MCAs as they inspect Mandongoi Police Station
The team's visit entered day three as The Committee, led by Chuluni ward MCA Mr.Mathew Vuthi visited Mandongoi police post in Ngomeni ward, Mwingi North Sub -County to establish the progress of the facility.
The Station is one of the five stations being established by the county government in a bid to end perennial banditry and insecurity along the porous Kitui-Tana River border.
The team established that the station has been erected where the national government had earmarked for a General Service Unit (GSU) camp of the Kenya Police Service.
It also noted that the station is already operational, where GSU officers are already deployed to carry out operations along the volatile border which is about 15 km from the station.
The 11- member Committee observed that an office block which hosts, reporting area, offices, police cells and an armoury, among others, has already been constructed and handled over to the GSU officers. The building however is not connected to the water supply and the solar lighting system is yet to be installed.
The Committee also observed that an ablution block was already in place. The Members however, noted with concern that some finishing works were poor, especially the paint which has already started peeling off. The lawmakers also observed the water tanks were improperly installed and called for the contractor to rectify the affected areas.
The team further noted that key infrastructure in the facility were yet to be constructed. They include fencing and gate, staff quarters and drilling of an already earmarked borehole to bolster water supply in the security facility.
