Lack of equipment made Mandera attack possible

An ambush in Mandera left at least 14 people dead; two civilians, two regular police and ten police reservists.

Needless to say, the country has lost dedicated officers in their line of duty.

While endeavouring to rescue abducted Kenyans, the gallant officers were waylaid and killed by the Al Shabaab insurgents. To add salt to injury, the militia took away the bodies of those killed and burned a vehicle they could not take with them.

The inference one gets from this incident (other than the callousness of the assailants) is that the officers were overpowered because they were few and had rudimentary equipment. Mandera, which is a preferred gateway into Kenya from Somalia by the insurgents, is a volatile area that needs proper attention not just in terms of staffing, but the facilitation of movement of the officers when need arises.

Security chiefs have continued to decry the lack of adequate funding for the police. Clearly, this limits the operations of the police in the pursuit of criminals. The war against crime and terrorism will not be won unless proper equipment fitted with modern technology are procured and provided to the officers.

Police officers are sitting ducks in an area as dangerous as Mandera where Al Shabaab militia, who seem to have fairly sophisticated weapons, strike at will. It is sad that the officers went after the insurgents in an open-top truck.

Needless to say, Mandera qualifies for a combat zone, which calls for the immediate provision of armoured patrol vehicles to accord some safety to our security officers. Additionally, patrol helicopters can act as deterrents and offer safer and quicker responses in times of emergencies.

The long and short of it is that the security docket needs a bigger budgetary allocation to allow for ease of operations and eliminate excuses when the enemy strikes, if ever they do, again.