National security is a political agenda

As Kenyans wade through the four months of election campaigns, it is easy to forget that competitive politics and democracy are only possible where national security is guaranteed.

And for a country beset by the threat of militant attacks from across the border, we must never lose sight of the connection between politics and terrorism.

In November 2002, three al-Qaeda terrorists car-bombed the Israeli-owned Paradise Hotel at Kikambala, Mombasa, killing three Israelis and 10 Kenyans, most of them traditional dancers waiting to entertain hotel guests. The 60 tourists had just checked into the hotel for a holiday, and apparently the terrorists knew just when to strike.

Simultaneously, other terrorists tried, and failed, to down an Israeli-owned chartered aircraft using a surface-to-air missile as it was taking off from the airport.

Around that time, the attention of Kenyans was focused on the elections to be held later that year and there was great excitement because finally they would get rid of the Kanu regime.

It was to be expected that a terror attack would be the last thing on anyone's mind, and apparently the al-Qaeda counted on that very lapse.

If any lesson was learnt about the need for extra vigilance during periods of heightened political activity, it must have been soon forgotten.

In September 2013, gunmen attacked the Westgate shopping mall in Nairobi killing 67 people.

This time, Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility, but in this case, the mass shooting was aimed at Kenyans themselves in revenge for the incursion of the Kenya Defence Force troops in Somalia to fight them on their own soil.

The interesting thing is that this attack too happened in an election year when the attention of most Kenyans was focused on how the new government was faring six months after it was formed.

It was a transition period, and again, enhanced security must have been the last thing in people's minds after a bruising campaign and a disputed outcome.

One could say that these attacks happening on election years were just an unlucky coincidence.

However, no one should rule out the fact that terrorists always strike when their victims are least prepared. Now we are entering another campaign period and there are no indications that a possible terrorist strike during the confusion is uppermost in anybody's mind.

This is sad. It is true that many preventative security measures have been taken in the period between the American Embassy bomb blast of 1998 and all the other attacks, both major and minor, but the jury is still out there whether these measures are really enough.

The reason for this, as some observers point out, is that Kenyans are notoriously forgetful; their moods regularly see-saw between national outrage and abysmal apathy. If it is true that these days you can't just walk into a public building uninspected, it is also true that very few people, or their baggage are still being checked as they enter public service vehicles.

By the way, what happened to the rule that before you enter a matatu, some kind of scanner must be used? How many people are scanned for anything beyond a simi as they enter a stadium to listen to politicians?

The only possible salvation is that terrorists understand that even if they killed a huge number of hoi polloi, it can never create as big an impact as another Westgate or Garissa College.

At the same time, although it is always tempting to use security organs as scapegoats should anything horrendous happen, we must realise that neither the Anti-Terror Police Unit nor the National Intelligence Service are manned by clairvoyants.

It is always soothing to use them as scapegoats when things go wrong, but if you think about it, there would be no terrorists on earth if whatever they plan became common knowledge before they acted.

This, of course is not to exonerate the security services if they do fail in their duty. There is a reason why the national security sector receives a huge chunk of the budget each year – Sh124 billion this financial year. However, politicising security issues can never be the answer; the only way is to out-think and out-manoeuvre mass murderers.

Throughout the campaigns for the primaries, nobody told us what he or she intends to do to make this nation a lot safer. And nobody should wait with bated breath to hear any of the contending parties set out in detail additional measures that they will take to safeguard internal security.

All that we can expect to hear from one side is how insecurity has become worse due to the ineptitude of the incumbent government, while the other issues pompous self-justifying pronouncements about how incident of terrorism have gone down in recent times. Whether any of these should make Kenyans sleep more soundly is another issue altogether.

The writer is a security consultant who has previously worked as a police officer and newspaper journalist