Kenyans must be united in saying no to another Mandera, Mpeketoni, or Westgate attacks. As we condole with the families of those who lost their lives, we must first refuse to throw stones at each other, blaming one another, and allocating failure. The failure is a collective failure and this is where we must start.
As we continue to mourn, we must rethink and find a lasting solution to terrorism and others acts of crime once and for all. We must resolve that enough is enough, avoid empty promises and see real action. We must take one stand that our homeland must not be and cannot be a front for fighting terror.
Top security chiefs have repeatedly assured that security has been tightened across the country and this may be so but the consistent threats and frequent successes of Al Shabaab are creating despair amongst Kenyans. With assurances that constantly disappoint, pertinent questions must be answered. Where are we going wrong? Why do terrorists strike over and over again? Who is sleeping on their job? Are our borders really well protected? It cannot be business as usual for leaders in our security agencies.
Government should address well-known contributors to insecurity ranging from ineptitude and corruption in every sector including within the security agencies. Seeking backing and real learning from international States especially those that have won the war on terrorism is a good starting point. After all, it is pointless to have everything else, including major development projects, when people are dying left, right and centre. We must also not save money when it comes to security and it must be priority number one.
Two weeks ago, together with a fairly large delegation of Kenyans including Cabinet Secretaries in security, I attended the third Israel Homeland Security (HLS) Conference in Tel Aviv. My personal learning from the visit persuaded me that Kenya can win the war on terror if we adopt the practices and technologies deployed by Israel.
More than750 delegates from more than 60 countries across the world gathered for the four-day conference in which more than 60 leading Israeli companies presented very sophisticated innovative security solutions. The technological advancements are staggering, to say the least! Israel, home to close to ten million people, has a homeland security system that is robust and extremely efficient, as they have had to learn from adversity and hostility around them. For years, Israel was a target of terrorism starting in 1972 when their delegation to the Munich Olympics in Germany was attacked.
Israel continues to fight terrorism and crime, and overall, can be said to be very successful. Israel’s fight against terror is founded on two pillars: One being the quality and training of its security people; and the other the use of top-notch technology. The Israelis have a fundamental philosophy that their homeland cannot be a front or battlefield for terrorists.
Israel has one of the world’s leading intelligence agencies. Its external intelligence arm, Mossad, is extremely efficient and ruthless in gathering intelligence and eliminating Israel’s enemies abroad. The official responsibility of Mossad is human intelligence, covert-action and counter-terrorism. For them, dealing with enemies of the State anywhere in the world is a defence of the homeland. Of course, the Americans have perfected this and they consider it a right to send specialised forces, missiles and drones thousands of kilometres away across the world to take out those considered enemies.
Shin Bet is the local intelligence-gathering unit of Israel. Like Mossad, this organisation is highly efficient and effective and enables Israelis to detect and prevent acts of crime and terrorism before they are executed. Israel sees the security of its citizens as the pillar upon which the country grows and prospers and today, with a per capita income of more the $37,000, the country is very rich.
The Israelis have invested heavily in innovating cost-effective technology that helps in surveillance to detect and monitor terrorists and their plans. Through top-range day and night vision cameras that have short- and long-range capabilities, the Israelis are able to see everything in their country. There are powerful cameras that can be fixed atop tall buildings or on elevated ground that are capable of seeing objects or persons up to a distance of 60km to such clarity as though the person was within normal sight range. Drones that can weigh as little as a few kilograms fitted with powerful cameras, can be sent out to as far away as 50km and are remotely controlled. Mobile systems can also be fitted with powerful cameras that are carried at the back of pick-up trucks with camera-mounted height-adjustable masts with capability to see up to 40km away. There are balloons that can also be fitted with powerful cameras and controlled by joysticks and can zoom to specific locations and points to identify and pick out suspicious individuals that could be planning terror.
What inspired me about the technologies was that they are not very expensive to deploy. The costs could range from as low as Sh20 million and perhaps rise up to Sh200 million for systems that could provide adequate capabilities for an average county.
Having attended the conference and reflecting on the debate on whether or not Kenyan Governors and their governments should be involved in the security of their counties, I am more than convinced they should be allowed to handle certain aspects of security in their localities. These aspects of security should include surveillance and intelligence-gathering.
If the Mandera Governor believes he should deploy and operate a surveillance system comprising balloons, short, medium or long range night and day vision cameras, drones, cameras on top of pick-ups or combinations thereof, he should be allowed to do so without too much bureaucracy from national security agencies or some government department at the national level.
When the Baringo Senator Gideon Moi, proposed the deployment of drones to fight cattle rustling and clashes between communities in Baringo, West Pokot and Turkana, others may have been skeptical. But this is the right thing to do. First, drones are affordable and secondly, it is more efficient to procure the devices at the county level and for a specialised team either trained at the county or seconded by the national Police to operate as a local operation. The drones could have easily provided surveillance and monitoring of movement of armed groups for tens of kilometres within the conflict area.
The county leaderships of Lamu, Tana River, Marsabit, Mandera, Mombasa and Wajir could easily deploy their own systems to carry out surveillance over their trouble zones. The counties could also be allowed to maintain a limited number of county police officers of perhaps not more than 300 for difficult counties. Majority of them could be recruited from the local community to create a sense of ownership of security matters by the county residents. Security cannot be the preserve of our established agencies in the capital city or urban areas. It is everybody’s responsibility.
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The combined action in intelligence gathering, surveillance and monitoring by different counties in collaboration with the National Police force will greatly strengthen the security situation across the country.
The writer is the Standard Group CEO
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