Where does the buck stop on soaring insecurity?

By OSCAR OBONYO

Kenya: Sporadic terror attacks have left Kenyans restless, but united in calling for more assurances on individual and collective security from the Jubilee Government.

They want answers from President Uhuru Kenyatta, Deputy President William Ruto, Interior Cabinet Secretary Joseph ole Lenku, Inspector General of Police David Kimaiyo and Director of National Intelligence Service Michael Gichangi. Enraged Kenyans are also wagging fingers at the official Opposition, CORD, for playing the cheerleader in a grave matter and not providing constructive, alternative leadership.      

Members of the powerful Parliamentary Committee on Administration and National Security best capture the mood across the country. In a rare hard-hitting warning, Tiaty MP Asman Kamama, who chairs the committee, has given a two weeks’ ultimatum to Lenku, Kimaiyo, Gichangi and Interior Principal Secretary Mutea Iringo to step up their game or face the sack.    

Similar concerns have been raised by Catholic Bishops, who have demanded an overhaul of the security system. In a similarly hard-hitting Press statement on Friday, the church leaders led by John Cardinal Njue of Nairobi regretted that “our country is experiencing what can be described as an emerging culture of death”. 

And noting Kenya has only one Commander-In-Chief, security expert Simiyu Werunga has appealed to the President to lead the anti-terror war from the front: “Even as we engage in blame game, let us not get mixed up here. While the Constitution allows the DP to act as President in the absence of the Head of State, it does not accord him, or any other individual, the opportunity to act as C-I-C. This duty is solely the President’s.”  

Blaming the spate of terror attacks on poor police responses, intelligence gathering and sharing, coordination as well as corruption in the police and Immigration Department, the Kamama-led committee has vowed to recommend the dismissal or resignation of the top security chiefs if the situation does not improve.

Hard stance

The hard stance taken by the Kamama committee, which is largely dominated by members of the ruling Jubilee Coalition, is a demonstration of the seriousness of the matter. Instructively, it is Kamama who last time singly came to the defence of the uniformed forces following the attack at the Westgate Mall in Nairobi, last September.

But it is members of CORD who have been more daring, sparing nobody within the security ranks. Noting that the buck stops with the President, the leadership of the official Opposition – through separate sentiments by former Vice President and CORD co-principal Kalonzo Musyoka and Orange Democratic Movement’s (ODM) acting party leader, Anyang’ Nyong’o — wants the Jubilee administration to resign from office.    

But responding to the resignation calls, State House Spokesperson Manoah Esipisu observed that it was easier to throw stones when you are on “the other side”, but the picture is completely different for those running Government affairs.

“The President has his priorities right and he cares for the security of all Kenyans and those who live within our borders. And he has taken these efforts further to Somalia and South Sudan because he believes that regional security also guarantees our own,” Esipisu added.

Majority Leader in the National Assembly Aden Duale is enraged by what he terms Opposition’s incessant and insensitive criticism of the Government.

“They are supposed to offer alternative options, not just on security, but in many other areas. But what we have is a CORD leadership that hurls burbs at the President from morning to evening every day,” he told The Standard on Sunday yesterday.

Weak opposition

Duale nonetheless concedes that the Opposition is doing its bit, but regrets that it is “weak and its contribution is not helpful. Where they think the Jubilee strategy in fighting terrorism is failing,” he says, “they should offer alternative avenues”.

Werunga criticises politicians for handling security related issues in public and through Press conferences. Noting that security is a sensitive matter, the expert advises legislators, particularly from the official Opposition, to channel concerns including proposals, through the existing channels within the police and through relevant House committees in the National Assembly and the Senate.

Asked whether he would resign, Interior CS Lenku carefully evaded the question stating instead that the appointment of Cabinet Secretaries was the prerogative of the President. However, he claimed those accusing him of “doing nothing” to safeguard the safety of Kenyans did not understand security matters.

“My Ministry as well as other security agencies have been active using a variety of strategies to fight and contain terror. We have had many successes some of which are in public domain and many, which are not. Terrorism is an unconventional war and no country is absolutely free of the threat from terrorism. The security challenges we face here in Kenya are brought about by many actors, some of which are economic, political and social thus requiring to be dealt with using different strategies,” said Lenku. 

Kimaiyo and Gichangi, however, declined to talk to The Standard on Sunday. Although the IGP answered this writer’s initial call and promised to grant an interview later, our subsequent phone text messages and calls went unanswered. The NIS boss, on the other hand, neither responded to our e-mail interview request nor responded to our calls.

Separately, Kalonzo declined to address the question regarding the official Opposition’s contribution towards the fight against terrorism, pointing out that CORD was not running Government and accordingly lacked instruments of power to control the terror mess.

Blaming the Government instead, the Wiper Democratic Party leader told The Standard on Sunday the President “must do something” because unchecked terror attacks were likely to lead to capital flight.

Security slumber

Since October 2011, when the Kenya Defence Forces launched military incursion into Somalia to flush out Al Shabaab, members of the terror group have staged a string of retaliatory attacks across the country. Hundreds of civilians and security personnel have been killed and maimed in indiscriminate grenade attacks and shooting.

Reflecting on the security situation over the years, Werunga observes that Kenya’s second President, Daniel arap Moi, “was on top of things”. Werunga, who is a member of the community policing task force, dubbed “Nyumba Kumi” initiative, rates Moi as Kenya’s best Commander-In-Chief so far, owing to the fact that he had a close touch with the security situation and organs of the country.

“Kenya, however, went into a security slumber under (third President, Mwai) Kibaki. Ten years in the life of a sensitive institution as security is long – it is enough for an institution to collapse,” says the expert.

Esipisu, who is head of the Presidential Strategic Communications Unit (PSCU), appears to corroborate this fact. He explains that the Jubilee administration is grappling with challenges in a sector where there was virtually no serious investment over the last two decades. The import of this, observes the President’s Spokesperson, is a deficiency of operational security equipment, particularly in the air wing. 

To remedy the situation, Esipisu notes that the proposed 2014/2015 Budget provides for more funding in the security area. In the meantime 1,200 vehicles have been purchased to ensure mobility for the anti-terrorist officers, while 7,700 new police officers have entered service to beef up the existing force, with a clear outline of churning out at least 10,000 officers every year. The President’s spokesperson explains that this designed to adequately combat terrorism and ensure the police-citizen ratio improves to the globally accepted standards.

Political responsibility

Separately, Werunga comes to the defence of the Interior minister, stating that he has done his best and if he has to leave office, “it will be on account of taking sheer political responsibility for the deaths that have occurred so far and not because of under-performance”.

“The blame lies squarely with the executing agency – the police. The buck stops with the IGP because he has the mandate and monopoly of weapons to safeguard Kenyans, as well as direct access to the top political leadership, in case of any impediments. The President and the CS only outline policy issues, while the director of NIS supplies intelligence reports. The police are charged with the execution duty,” he adds.

And Lenku is optimistic that with teamwork, this war can be won easily: “The country’s security agencies have the resources, resolve and capacity to contain any threat to security. Terrorism is an asymmetrical war, which changes almost on a daily basis, and as such security agencies also have to keep changing their strategies and tactics in order to be ahead of the game.”

“Yes, we have taken some heat following recent blasts where we lost a number of Kenyans, but we have done a lot to minimise the fatalities. The public will only comment on what has happened because that is what they know, but they have no idea just how many attempts on their lives that our brave sons and daughters have foiled,” Esipisu told The Standard on Sunday.