Kenya stands by France during this period of mourning

NAIROBI: Kenya joins the world in mourning with France after gunmen and bombers attacked restaurants, a concert hall and a sports stadium in Paris killing 153 people. This was a cowardly attack and while we grieve over these tragic deaths, we condemn this terror attack in the strongest terms and reiterate that no effort must be spared to apprehend the cowardly planners of these raids.

As President Uhuru Kenyatta noted in his condolence message to French President Francois Hollande and the people of France, humanity has been attacked and innocent civilians have been murdered in cold blood. He and other world leaders reiterated that their citizens would stand with France during this dark period.

Kenya, like many nations of the free world, have borne the brunt of such attacks before and know that such senseless killings by jihadist groups can serve to fuel anger against those who profess the Muslim faith. This attack must not succeed in driving a wedge between the gallant members of the French community.

The Paris attacks have come at a time when Europe has opened its doors to refugees fleeing the bloody war in Syria, and offered sanctuary to hundreds of thousands of men, women and children who have lost their homes.

The Paris attack has demonstrated, yet again, that the war on terror is a global scourge that affects people from all corners of the globe. It must be appreciated by all that this war cannot be won without inter-dependence and sharing of information between nations.

Yesterday, the Inspector General of Police Joseph Boinett raised the level of alert across the country and asked all Kenyans to inform authorities of suspicious characters or activities, especially if they believe that national security can be compromised.

We must heed the call by the Inspector General because the war on terror cannot be contained by the police on their own and without the input of members of the public. All Kenyans have a civic duty to provide law enforcement officers with information they need to contain crime.

But we must challenge local law enforcement agencies to do a better job of keeping the country safe from terror attacks. While we acknowledge that such attacks can be difficult to contain because of the elaborate global networks used by terrorists, and the fact that they have been able to infiltrate our own society and win sympathisers who they deploy for some of these attacks, we believe more can be done to secure our borders.

It has been stated before that corrupt immigration officers at our border points with Somalia have allowed militants to come into our country and cause trouble.

We believe that this can be addressed by tighter monitoring of immigration personnel and better use of technology at border points. The radicalisation of youths may be more difficult to deal with, fuelled largely by runaway unemployment and social disintegration.

However, greater involvement of other social groups and religious institutions to promote greater inclusivity, can help create a sense of belonging.

We cannot afford to be complacent about our security, therefore let us support endeavours to keep Kenya safe during the visit by Pope Francis from November 25 to 27. Thousands of pilgrims will be flocking Nairobi to celebrate Mass, well aware that there could be groups plotting to jeopardise this visit. Kenyans therefore, must be extra vigilant . . . we cannot afford to rest on our laurels on the issue of safety. Let us keep vigilant as a tribute to those who died in such an untimely fashion in Paris.