Joseph ole Lenku refutes claims of rift between police and NIS, says fight against terror top-notch

Nairobi, Kenya: Interior Cabinet Secretary Joseph ole Lenku says the police have foiled many terror attacks that authorities have not spoken of and assured security forces are alert against security threats.

Lenku dismissed allegations that the National Intelligence Service (NIS) is not working closely with the police.

The Government has been under criticism for allegedly ignoring intelligence reports on terror attacks with the latest being the Likoni one that claimed several lives.

Radical surgery

“I want to confirm that we have a very close working relationship between the NIS and the National Police Service,” Lenku insisted.

“The police have foiled many terrorist attempts and I can assure you many have been thwarted because of the collaboration between the two institutions.”

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The Government also distanced itself from the killing of the radical Islamist and terror suspect Sheikh Abubakar Shariff alias Makaburi, insisting his assailants are criminals.

“The criminals and terrorists who injured baby Satrin and orphaned him are no different from those who killed Makaburi. As a Government, ours is to investigate and deal with the same according to the law,” Lenku said during a Cabinet briefing yesterday at Harambee House.

He said the arrest of many terror suspects in Nairobi after the Eastleigh blast on Monday has yielded important leads.

According to the minister, they have launched a radical surgery on corrupt immigration officials who have been giving travel and identification documents to criminals.

At the same time, he announced that the Government is spearheading the establishment of a forensic lab to help in crime investigation as well as improve the pace of such probes.

Lenku said the Government was planning to roll out the controversial Nyumba Kumi initiative.

?Reporting by Felix Olick, Augustine Oduor, Ally Jamah