Much-hyped security meetings are a waste of money and time

Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen at the Nairobi edition of Jukwaa la Usalama. [Murkomen, X]

In just six months, Kenyans have witnessed an expensive circus parading as a national security initiative. Security barazas, public meetings held across all 47 counties, were supposed to reassure citizens and demonstrate the State’s commitment to fighting crime. Instead, they have become spectacles of waste, consuming scarce resources, while insecurity continues to ravage communities.

At each of these events, millions of shillings are spent not on strengthening intelligence, not on equipping local police posts, and not on protecting vulnerable communities. Instead, funds are blown on convoys of gas-guzzling vehicles, helicopter hire, lavish catering, and hotel accommodation. One county baraza alone consumes a minimum of Sh15 million, money that could have built police housing, bought patrol vehicles, or provided surveillance equipment.