Every year, the Border Police Training Campus (BPTC) in Kanyonyo, Kitui County, channels out intensely trained officers tasked with patrolling the Kenyan border.
The campus was started in 2009 as a training field for Administration Police (AP) officers before being converted fully to a BPTC in 2012.
Notably, the college was started with the help of the United Kingdom and the US in joint efforts to combat terrorism.
The Kitui campus is also mandated to train specialised units such as the Critical Infrastructure Protection Unit (CIPU), the Rapid Deployment Unit and the Anti-Stock Theft Unit (ASTU).
“BPTC is mandated to train national, regional and international police officers on border security operations and law enforcement and specialised skills and trains national, regional and international border law enforcement officers.
“We also offer basic border security courses to other support security agencies,” AP stated on its website.
Given the complexities in training the officers tasked with ensuring criminals such as terrorists do not gain access into the country, the officers undergo intense courses to equip them for the important exercise.
Some of the training courses include tactics and weapon handling, street fighting, map reading and navigation, counterterrorism, and close-quarter battles.
The officers are also trained on ground sign awareness to counter Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) that terrorists may place along the borders and operational Intelligence and forensic handling, among others.
In terms of operation, trained officers are deplored to border counties such as Turkana, Lamu, Migori, Homa Bay, Marsabit, Kisumu, Kajiado, Kwale, Wajir and Mandera.
“BPU has 16 companies and BORSOPTs deployed along our borders. Due to its porosity and threat level, there is more concentration of companies along the Kenya-Somalia border.
“All companies have sub-bases that host platoons and changeover is done after serving in one base for one year,” read the statement in part.
The facility also has a hospital launched by President William Ruto on Tuesday, February 23.
Source: kENYANS.CO.KE