An abandoned building at Unga Ojode Police Post in Kabuoch in Ndhiwa on December 20, 2025. The police post was abandoned due to lack of facilities. Officers operate from a different location.
When motorists run into trouble along the stretch between Ndhiwa Town and Pala in Kabuoch, Homa bay county, the instinctive place to seek help is Unga Ojode Police post.
It is the closest security outpost along the bumpy, muddy road and for years it served as a vital lifeline for travellers in distress. The alternative stations are far less convenient. Ndhiwa Town is more than 10 kilometres away and, given the dilapidated state of the road, can take up to an hour to reach by car.
A signpost of Unga Ojode Police Post in Kabuoch in Ndhiwa on December 20, 2025. The police post was abandoned due to lack of facilities.
Pala, on the same troubled route, is equally distant. For anyone stranded between the two points, Unga Ojode Police Post should be the obvious refuge.
Yet, for many seeking assistance, help may not come.
Officers assigned to the post no longer operate from the gazetted site. They have relocated to a nearby residential area where they now live and operate from. While local residents are aware of this arrangement and can find the officers when needed, outsiders are often left confused, misdirected and vulnerable.
Mr Sally Manyala, a resident of Ndhiwa, recalls a time when police officers routinely mounted roadblocks along the route, inspecting vehicles and motorcycles as part of efforts to curb drug trafficking.
“Roadblocks are no longer being erected and that encourages crime. Having the police post there no longer serves its intended purpose. Officers only come out when they are called,” he said.
Along the road from Ndhiwa Town to Pala, a signpost still marks the official location of the police post on the right-hand side.
What greets the eye, however, is a bushy field and a single ageing structure made of galvanised iron sheets, standing without a door. At a glance, one might reasonably conclude that the post is no longer operational.
In truth, the officers have “abandoned” the site due to the lack of basic facilities and opted to operate from another location where conditions are more bearable.
This was not the case during the lifetime of former Internal Security Assistant Minister Joshua Orwa Ojode. The police post sits directly opposite the gate of his rural home in Unga village. He is credited with establishing the post after residents appealed to him to improve security in the area.
The United States has not provided Kenya with information detailing why two of its citizens were named as being among the world’s top drug-traffickers, Internal Security assistant minister Orwa Ojode November 16, 2011. FILE
Mr Ojode managed to put up a single iron-sheet structure that officers used as an office. They had no houses of their own and were accommodated a short distance away in facilities set up by Ojode’s family. According to residents, the post was active and visible at the time, perhaps buoyed by Ojode's influence as a senior figure in charge of internal security.
After his death and burial, however, the situation changed. With no additional support forthcoming to improve facilities at the post, officers eventually moved their operations to the residential area where they remain today.
Mr Manyala believes that visibility is key to security. “Anyone passing by now just sees an open field with a signpost, while the officers are somewhere else. If the police were operating from the original site, people with bad intentions would think twice,” he said.
Unga Sub-location Assistant Chief Nick Magambo confirmed that Unga Ojode Police Post is officially gazetted and that the land was donated by Ojode’s family.
“There are officers there, including a corporal, who are ready to serve the people,” he said, adding that the officers relocated because they had nowhere to live.
Misplaced projects
“They chose to operate from a place provided by Ojode’s family. Initially, that place was meant to be their residential area only. But since the government did not put up houses for them, they moved the office there as well,” he said.
The challenges facing officers at Unga Ojode Police Post mirror those experienced by many security personnel across the country. They also reflect how projects initiated by leaders often fall into neglect after those leaders die or leave office.
Ndhiwa Police Commander John Losia said he found the officers already operating from a residential area when he was transferred to the region.
“I have never inquired whether they pay rent, because no one else lives there,” he said.
While acknowledging that government policy aims to bring security services closer to the people, Mr Losia expressed concern about the lack of facilities required for effective policing.
“Across the country, police officers face similar challenges. Stations have been upgraded in name, but some lack the basic infrastructure needed to operate,” he said.
He called on the National Government Constituency Development Fund (NG-CDF) in Ndhiwa to provide financial support to the National Police Service, enabling the construction of accommodation facilities for officers at Unga Ojode Police Post.
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