With rising insecurity, Nyumba Kumi offers best option

Yesterday, religious, political and community leaders in the Likoni area of Mombasa met to discuss the deteriorating security situation in the region.

This follows a spate of attacks that continue to claim lives of innocent Kenyans while increasing despondency among the residents.

The attacks, which started and have to date been concentrated in the Lamu area, have now escalated and moved closer to Mombasa town, the latest of which was the incident at a slum in Likoni.

The discovery of a hand grenade in a field adjacent to a school, though safely detonated, is a warning that the safety of the people is far from being guaranteed by the security machinery.

The attackers, whose identity and motivation are yet to be established, are operating from an advantaged point, going by what their activities have so far achieved.

The coastal region is slowly grinding to a standstill. Teachers have been calling parents to collect their children from school, after management opted for temporary closure.

The business fraternity, who are a soft target for the attackers, have resorted to closing their businesses over personal safety concerns. Kenya's largest foreign exchange earner, tourism, is almost becoming extinct and the issuance of travel advisories by our traditional trade partners, Britain and the US, has compounded matters for us.

The blow against tourism has consigned many families to penury following loss of jobs and closure of hotels.

But the saddest thing is that terrorist activities have succeeded in driving a wedge between communities that have co-existed peacefully for many years.

Suspicion and circulation of leaflets warning certain communities does not bode well for peace and unity.

Irresponsible political statements by leaders have had their own negative effects too.

The coming together of leaders from across the board may provide some of the answers to the poor security situation in Mombasa and Lamu if handled well, outside politics.

It is here that the importance of the Nyumba Kumi initiative comes alive. People in a given locality must make it their business to know who resides in their area and report suspicious-looking individuals to the authorities.

Community policing can achieve more in a short while than what the police have been trying to piece together without much success. In short, individual safety begins with the individual himself. Avenues must therefore be established to allow for more trust and easy communication between citizens and security arms of Government. So far, the Government has deployed soldiers from the navy on the streets of Mombasa to supplement police efforts.

On the other hand, the Air Force has subjected Boni Forest to aerial bombardment in a bid to flush out criminals hiding there. In addition to the current curfew, this forest should be quarantined and subjected to a thorough search.

Security forces should stop mishandling journalists who take pictures of them while doing patrols.

An incident where a journalist was roughed up by navy soldiers on patrol is a tell-tale sign of what these soldiers can do to innocent civilians if their activities are not closely monitored and controlled.