Ever since our incursion into the failed state of
Somalia we have fallen victims to a series of attacks orchestrated by the Al
Shabaab sympathizers on our land. However, a closer look reveals that ever
since the Jubilee administration came to power these attacks have become more
intense with high levels of fatalities. Besides the Al Shabaab machinations,
banditry has escalated and perhaps the recent bandit attacks are the deadliest
in our nation’s history.
Last week, over 100 people were massacred in Nadome
Valley on the border of Turkana and Baringo counties. This number of deaths is
according to the intelligence reports. It is believed that over 400 heavily
armed bandits surrounded 12 villages and began spraying bullets. The villages
that were raided include Kalpat, Acham, Koghturo, Kangolio, Chepisia, Chongor,
Lonangii, Loreng, Napuu, Sukut, Popon and Karuwon. All these villages are
located in Silale ward of Tiaty sub-county in East Pokot, Baringo County.
Turkana raiders attacked the Pokot and made away with 3000 cattle and sheep and
goats totaling to about 1000 in number.
The nonplus thing was the inability of the security
forces to react immediately to the bloody happenstance. As a matter of fact, it
took close to 3 days for the security forces to gain access to the valley of
death. Partly, though, this can be attributed to the very poor infrastructure
that exists in this particular place. To me, the inability of the security
officers to quickly react is because of high levels of incompetence within the
team, corruption and the government failure to provide enough modern equipments
and facilities to combat such criminal activities. I mention incompetence
because the police and the General Service Unit (GSU) camps are within a radius
of 35km from the place of attack and they FAILED absolutely to react even
within 48hours. The past and present governments should take the blame because
the security officers operate under not-so-good conditions. Is it difficult to
procure modern equipment and facilities albeit the high costs associated with
them? In any case, security of the nation ranks the highest priority among any sane
government in the world.
Last year in the infamous Kapedo Massacre, 21 police
officers lost their lives after being ambushed by some Pokot raiders. This
prompted our dear President Uhuru Kenyatta to tour the region and certainly
talked tough by issuing ultimatums to the individuals in possession of illegal
firearms. Some surrendered their firearms but I am pretty sure the majority
didn’t. Soon, the embers of the much hyped disarmament exercise died and then
life was back to normalcy. A visit by the president to Nadome was anticipated
but it is yet to take place.
It sounds illogical and insensible for Kenya to be
battling banditry and cattle rustling nearly 52 years after attaining
independence. These cases of cattle rustling and banditry normally happen in
the regions that have been economically marginalized over time. Such places
have been perceived to be of little economic importance in the country especially
due to their unproductiveness in terms of agriculture. Could this be the main
reason why the successive governments have never advanced a comprehensive
agenda for these areas in quest for a permanent solution? Certainly and
relatively yes.
We’ve got lessons to learn from Uganda on how
President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni firmly dealt with the Karamoja region which
also experienced similar challenges of cattle rustling and banditry. The
Ministry of Karamoja was carved out under which several programmes and
initiatives have been implemented including the Karamoja Livelihood Improvent
Programme and the Karamoja Integrated Disarmament and Development Programme.
Under the Grand Coalition government, a ministry for the arid and semi-arid
areas was created but no tangible achievements were witnessed.
Apart from the socio-economic hardships, some of the
political leaders from this region are alleged to be inciting their
communities. Is there any need really to utter sentiments that lead to loss of
lives? The Directorate of Criminal Investigations ought to carry out thorough
investigations to establish the conduct of these political leaders. The
challenge lies in the prosecution of these politicians if found guilty.
On a general scale, the Jubilee administration is
really struggling to fix the security situation. Since its ascension to power
many people have died and many more wounded in the wake of terrorist and
banditry attacks. Let’s revisit some of the deadliest attacks since the Jubilee
coalition formed the government. In last week’s attack around 100 people or
more were slaughtered and shot. On April 2nd this year, 148 people
including 143 students lost their lives when the Al Shabaab launched an attack
on Garissa University College. Late last year in Mandera there were two attacks
which claimed the lives of 64 Kenyans. In June 2014 we also had attacks in
Mpeketoni where 68 deaths were recorded. Also note that last year we had 21
police officers massacred in Kapedo. On 23rd September, 2013 we had
a terrorist attack at the Westgate Shopping Mall where 67 people died.
Following the Mandera carnage, the then Cabinet
Secretary in charge of Interior and Coordination of National Government Joseph
Lenku and the Inspector General of the National Police Service David Kimaiyo
were shown the door. They were replaced by their tribesmen Joseph Nkaissery and
Joseph Boinett in the respective capacities and positions. Mr. Lenku came
across as grossly incompetent due to the drama he elicited during press
conferences. Then came the tough son of Kajiado who talks in a manner likely to
intimidate journalists to prevent them from asking many questions during his
press briefings. My opinion is that it does not matter who takes charge of the
security docket to deal with insecurity. We must take the fundamentals into
account for us to effectively restore security in the affected areas.
The said fundamentals that we are to consider
according to me are mainly three and these largely centre on the modus operandi of the security forces.
Firstly, the police recruitment exercise entails the use of archaic means,
methods and ways that were instituted and used by the colonialists to recruit
policemen in the colonial period. Secondly, the police recruitment exercise is usually
shrouded with a lot of corruption. Due to corruption, we end up recruiting
Kenyans who join the police service just to draw salaries from the tax payers
and such people lack the zeal to protect the citizenry. Do such recruits who
join the police force as a result of corruption ever have the imagination of
one day engaging in a battle? At the time of being recruited the majority
usually foresee how much money they will be earning at the end of the month.
Being a police personnel is a calling and this cannot be disputed. Thirdly, we
should have a paradigm shift in the training programmes of the police with
emphasis on intelligence and the use of sophisticated equipments to combat
crime. To add to the above necessities, we should allow those who have attained
high grades and also university graduates in criminology and related courses to
join the police. Normally when we have recruitment this category of persons is
usually turned away creating an impression that the police force is an avenue and
a reservation for academic failures.
This should be a challenge bearing in mind that the
Al Shabaab is recruiting university graduates as we recently saw in the Garissa
University College attack where a law graduate was among the master-minds.
Perhaps this was just a microcosm of the situation as there could be many more
graduates operating with this terrorist group. I believe that successful
execution and implementation of the fundamentals will definitely change the way
the police and the entire security system works and operates. Otherwise we
shall forever wail, whine and cry due to the current system that is in place;
where bandits and the Al Shabaab overpower the police officers. In fact, one of
my former parish priests Gabriel Dolan jokingly said that the government should
consider deploying the Kenya Defence Forces officers to Nadome to deal with
cattle rustlers and bandits and take the bandits to fight Al Shabaab in Somalia
as they seem to be so effective. Therefore, to conclude, the government top
honchos should stop talking too much and let their actions towards containing
insecurity make noise for them.
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