Nairobi — The media is abuzz with reports of an apparent conflict between the Kenya's regular police and their Administration Police counterparts over allocation of resources and overlapping mandate.

Is this conflict real or imaginary? The two forces are creatures of the Police and the Administration Police Acts, of the Laws of Kenya respectively.

Historically, the regular police have always enjoyed a pre-eminent position in matters of national security. The Force was established in 1906 with the aim of providing security to the business class, the Kenya-Uganda Railway and the urban quarters of European settlers.

The situation persists to date, and section 108 of the Constitution ranks the regular police higher than the Administration Police in the disciplined forces.

The Commissioner of Police is a constitutional office-holder answerable to the President whereas the Commandant of the Administration Police is a mere delegate of the minister of State for Internal Security and Provincial Administration who is statutorily the commandant of the AP under the Administration Police Act.

The regular police have an extensive mandate of enforcing all laws and regulations, protecting life and property, preserving peace, preventing and detecting crime and apprehending offenders to maintain law and order.

On the other hand, the main role of APs is to assist government officers (read provincial administrators and other civil servants) in the execution of their lawful duties, preservation of public peace, and national defence in the event of war or an emergency.

Although section 19 of the Police Act and section 9 of the Administration Police Act authorise officers from the two forces to charge criminal offenders, this role is traditionally performed by the regular police who also formally investigate crime. APs do not investigate crime and their role of preventing commission of offences and apprehension of offenders is auxiliary.

Different historical, philosophical and operational foundations and the rapid transformation of the AP are the real issues underlying the perceived conflict.

Formed in 1929 as a district-based tribal outfit to assist colonial administrators in the collection of tax revenue and prosecution of criminal cases before the Native Courts, the Administration Police Force has over the years been transformed into a professional entity with a dominant national presence.

APs are now organised into easily deployable agile and flexible units which make them a common sight all over the country. They are well spread out in rural areas where they provide back-up to the provincial administration.

APs also play the role of a territorial army in far-flung marginal pastoral areas and border districts. They live with the people and are well-equipped and attuned to provide basic security and resolve minor social disputes.

More and more communities are now turning to the Administration Police for assistance in dealing with serious offences such as armed robbery and drug abuse. This is causing jitters in the leadership of regular police who think the APs are tinkering with their territory.

In contrast the regular police were greatly involved in the arrest, detention and suppression of African nationalists at the height of the struggle for independence.

The Force was similarly used in the 1980s and 1990s to crack down on political dissidents who were demanding greater freedoms in opposition to Kanu's one party rule.

The regular police are organised into rigid and reactive structures. They predominantly interact with the general public when carrying out arrests, responding to incidents of violent crime or quelling social and political unrest; tasks which they always perform ham-fisted.

This history and management philosophy of the regular police has not endeared the Force to the general public. The much-touted community policing envisaged in the Kenya Police Strategic Plan (2003-2007) has essentially come a cropper since the general public has little trust or confidence in the regular police.

Pundits have argued tfhat a merger of the two forces is the only panacea to this jostling over turf. This proposal is reactive, myopic and not strategic.

Kenya is not the only country with law enforcement agencies that have overlapping mandates.The US has well over 120 law enforcement agencies with the FBI and the CIA being the most visible.

The two agencies spar occasionally over turf and territory but this rarely gets into the public limelight owing to excellent managers who never let sibling rivalry get into the way of the overall objective of providing national security.

Strengthening the AP does not necessarily weaken the regular police since the two play diverse albeit complementary roles. The two units only require excellent managers who can provide strategic transformative leadership and resolve petty invidiousness between their operatives for the overall national good.

Capt (Rtd) Wanderi is a certified fraud examiner and a lawyer.