Masai had appealed for donations to aid victims of the fire incident that occurred at the Nairobi Central Police Station on Friday, displacing 54 police officers and their families.
NAIROBI, Kenya, Feb 25 – Inspector General of Police Joseph Boinnet has disowned an appeal for funds to aid police officers whose houses were burnt to the ground on Friday.
According to Boinnet, the appeal by the National Disaster Management Unit Deputy Director, Pius Masai, was made without consultation.
“We cannot be making such an appeal to help our officers,” Boinnet told Capital FM News, soon after went a 411 Breaking News alert quoting the statement from Masai, that also had an M-Pesa Pay Bill number.
The appeal read in part “For cash donations please use Safaricom M-Pesa Till No 976898.” This angered the IG and several other top government officials who called Capital FM News desk.
“We are in the process of assisting the affected officers,” the IG said in dismissing Masai’s appeal.
Masai had appealed for donations to aid victims of the fire incident that occurred at the Nairobi Central Police Station on Friday, displacing 54 police officers and their families.
The appeal had already elicited reactions on social media with some users terming the appeal as a joke.
“Aren’t police houses insured,” a user replied to a Capital FM News alert on the appeal.
According to Masai, the donations would compliment NPS which had so far identified alternative accommodation as well as issued the affected officers with food, beddings, and new uniforms.
Nairobi Police Station’s Chief Robinson Thuku told Capital FM News on Friday that investigations had been launched to determine the cause of the fire that was linked to an electric fault.
“So far as we are talking about 54 police officers have no accommodation and 44 structures have been destroyed. We are working hard to see how we are going to accommodate these officers because they have nowhere to go,” he said.
Thuku said the officers were due for relocation to new houses that are under construction in Nairobi’s Kamukunji.
“The makeshift structures were initially being used by the contractors as a temporary measure. Otherwise, we have other houses that were being constructed in Kamukunji and these are going to be used to accommodate the officers,” Thuku stated.
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