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In 2013, Africa recorded the most rapid rise in military spending in the
world at 8.3pc. EAC states have spent more than $15 billion since 2004.
TEA GRAPHIC |
NATION MEDIA GROUP
y FRED OLUOCH, TEA Special Correspondent
In Summary
- Security committee MPs have signed a petition for the removal of their chairman Asman Kamama, whom they accuse of not offering decisive leadership in holding security agencies to account for the runaway insecurity.
- Kenyans are now questioning the effectiveness of the security agencies in protecting them despite heavy investment in the war against terror and other forms of crime.
- Security experts believe that security agencies working at cross purposes have made terrorist infiltration easy.
Kenyan security agencies are on the spot again
following the massacre of 28 bus passengers by Al Shabaab militants in
the northeastern region last week.
Armed Shabaab militia shot the 28 travellers in
cold blood last Saturday morning after ambushing a bus that was en route
to Nairobi from Mandera.
The latest terrorist attack came as the country
was coming to grips with spiralling violence and increased crime, with
sections of leaders and citizens calling for the removal of its security
chiefs for laxity.
Removal of chairman
In parliament, members of the Parliamentary
Committee on Administration and National Security signed a petition for
the removal of their chairman Asman Kamama, whom they accuse of not
offering decisive leadership in holding security agencies to account for
the runaway insecurity.
Ahmed Abdikadir Ore, the MP for Wajir North and a member of the committee, told The EastAfrican
that 17 of the 25 members had signed the petition for the replacement
Mr Kamama, and it has been accepted by the Clerk of Parliament.
“We have not put the security agencies on their
toes from the time of Westgate to Mpeketoni and now Mandera. We want the
committee to effectively play its constitutional role and help in
reducing insecurity in the country,” said Mr Ore.
Westgate attack
The committee needs a minimum of 15 signatories to
remove the chairman and Mr Ore said that the process would start this
Tuesday.
During the Westgate attack in Nairobi on September
21 last year, 67 people were killed. The Mpeketoni attacks in June this
year claimed the lives of more than 60 people.
In March, parliament rejected the committee report
on the Westgate attack that was presented by Mr Kamama on the grounds
that the committee had done a shoddy job despite spending close to Ksh10
million ($109,000) on sitting allowances, air travel and food.
Defence Cabinet Secretary Raychelle Omamo said
strong oversight, especially through a parliamentary committee, was
essential to ensure accountability for expenditure, respect for human
rights and peace.
Kenyans are now questioning the effectiveness of
the security agencies in protecting them despite heavy investment in the
war against terror and other forms of crime.
The government added to this spending with the
signing of a Ksh18 billion ($192 million) deal with mobile service
provider Safaricom to support intelligence gathering by law enforcement
agencies.
In the 2014/15 budget, Ksh66.2 billion ($721 million) was set
aside for the National Police Service, Ksh71.3 billion ($777 million)
for the Kenya Defence Forces and Ksh17.4 billion ($185 million) for the
National Security Intelligence. The allocation for police patrols has
increased to Ksh6.7 billion ($73 million) in 2014/15, from Ksh3 billion
($32 million) in 2013/14.
The number of police officers is forecast to
increase by at least 10,000, costing the government Ksh2.9 billion ($32
million) in recruitment and training.
The public and both Houses of parliament have
protested against the government and security agencies since the Mandera
incident which followed a series of killing in Turkana, West Pokot,
Isiolo in the north and Mombasa on the Coast in the past two months.
Security experts believe that Kenya’s
vulnerability to terrorist attacks stems from the inability of the
security agencies to gather intelligence.
Public mistrust
Anneli Botha, a senior researcher with the
Institute for Security Studies (ISS), who specialises in transnational
crimes, argued that the Kenyan security agencies are often caught
unaware because of lack of assistance from the public due to mistrust,
as corruption prevents the public from coming forward with information.
There is also limited interaction and sharing of information between the intelligence agency, the police and the military.
“Intelligence is key not only in the prevention of
attacks, but also to identify and arrest those responsible after the
fact. But then preventing and combating terrorism is not easy,” she
said.
Claims by Deputy President William Ruto that KDF
had tracked the Mandera raiders to their camps and killed 115 of them
were met with disbelief in the absence of tangible evidence.
President Uhuru Kenyatta, who was away in the
United Arab Emirates, upon his return from Abu Dhabi, challenged the
public to work with the law enforcement agencies in rooting out bad
elements from their midst.
Security experts believe that security agencies working at cross purposes have made terrorist infiltration easy.
There is a disconnect in the police command
structure, where the Inspector-General of Police, David Kimaiyo, prefers
to work directly with the police county commanders, leaving the
regional co-ordinators in the dark.
Leading in vulnerability
The 2014 Global Terrorism Index by the Institute
for Economics and Peace put Kenya at number 12 out of the 84 countries
surveyed. Kenya is leading in vulnerability among the East African
Community partner states, and is third in Africa, after Nigeria and
Somalia.
The index further points out that the level of
internal organised conflict, violent crime and deaths from conflict are
all significantly related to levels of terrorism.
“This highlights how the persistent targeting of
police forces and instability generated by terrorism can possibly
undermine rule of law and lead to an increase in other forms of
violence,” the report says.
Kenya has also been dealing with radicalisation of
youth, especially in Mombasa. Sources within the intelligence service
said that some of the youth have fallen prey to terrorism-allied NGOs
who lure them with free goodies and a promise of “further studies”
abroad, where they end up receiving combat training.
To stem the indoctrination, security forces have raided mosques and arrested youth en masse, especially at the Coast.
Ms Botha argues that storming mosques vindicates
critics who assert the law enforcement agencies are fighting a “war
against Islam.”
“That will definitely be used as the most
effective recruitment poster, therefore playing into the hands of Al
Shabaab and others,” she said.
Three mosques in Mombasa that had been closed over
allegations of being uses to stockpile arms among other things were
reopened on Thursday after consultations between the national and county
governments.
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