NAIROBI: Slowly, yet surely, we are getting into a period when caution and self-restraint are greatly advised. The 2017 General Election is beckoning and players in the field are raring to go on campaign trails to convince voters that they are the best suited to lead them.
The sad reality is that such persuasions are rarely conducted within reason and the confines of the law.

Many have been the cases where followers of aspirants clashed at rallies over differences of opinion or protocol at joint events. There have been instances where those sensing defeat have resorted to hiring goons to wreak havoc and intimidate opponents.
Such unfortunate incidences must be avoided at all costs.

The stepping up of security across the country is the responsibility of the national government and where county governments can supplement the measures, such moves are welcome in so far as they do not work at cross purposes. Security remains a national government function.

A special police unit is said to have been formed in central Kenya to counter criminal gangs that might be hired to disrupt political rallies as opposing camps prepare to hit the trail. This raises fundamental questions; why would a special police unit be formed for a particular region leaving the rest of the country out?

Does this, in a way, also signify the resurgence of the dreaded Mungiki gangs, hence the need to step up security? Central Kenya, of late, has been in the grips of criminal gangs that have not only been stealing coffee from factories; they have been engaged in disappearances, abductions and killings without the police wiser for it.

There has been little effort in laying strategies to control these gangs. When a special unit is formed to protect politicians, it sends the wrong signals to the tax payers who is more deserving of state security.