Consider context before security drills

Early last week, the country was treated to another sad story of a drill gone “wrong”. A staff member at Strathmore University died and scores of students were injured in a drill many perceive to have been bungled.

To this moment, part of the university’s press release on the incident reads, “we are carrying out an immediate review of the unfortunate circumstances to harness key lessons, apply internally and share with all stakeholders” thereby suggesting the review could either vindicate the infamous security drill or not.

To nobody’s surprise, theories around the exercise have been flying right, left and centre; from police contradictory reports to the university’s insistence that the relevant authorities were aware. And of course Kenyans on Twitter (#KOT) ‘security drill experts’ made it even more confusing, especially for those with close relatives at the university.

One Magunga blogged about his brother who jumped five floors and the anxiety his family was needlessly treated to and particularly complained about the institution’s assumption that money was the solution. He painfully states that, “sorry seems to be the hardest word” but what caught my attention was his narration of a #KOT who was completely oblivious of his situation and with complete disregard told him to stop yapping about it, when he was really concerned with the whereabouts of his brother.

Once again, social media reveals that most youths in the country continue to handle the platform over-confidently, unceasingly sending unintended and sometimes unnecessarily hurtful messages. But that’s beside the point.

The unfortunate incident at Strathmore, going by the university’s theory, reveals many things. First, Al-Shabaab has left Kenyans traumatised and many are not even aware of it and therefore not seeking help. People in Nairobi are quite jumpy to the point that neighbours in more affluent estates have sought police consent to stop others from celebrating holidays with low explosives such as fireworks, for fear of confusing it with banditry or terrorism.

Secondly, Kenyans are nonchalant about security issues (Kenya has been peaceful for more than 35years). Another possibility to this casual nature could be that Kenyans are bogged down by too many life challenges to think about security.

Most people think about their next meal or rent and if you consider Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, we think of safety only after such needs as food, water, sleep - among other basic needs - have been met. Whichever way you slice it, security is not a big deal until it is. A student from the institution explained on Twitter that indeed they were warned of an upcoming drill. If this is true then other students ignored or just didn’t think too much about it.

This is also true of most organisations where disaster-preparedness workshops are organised only for a handful of employees to show up. Most treat these days as off or leave days and those who attend rarely pay attention. Most fire accidents claim lives due to this disregard for disaster-preparedness.

And there have been numerous investigative pieces in the local media that showed our collective disregard for security; Al Shabaab strikes notwithstanding. Generally, we don’t care about our security until a bomb explodes within proximity, after which we shall be vigilant for as long as our problems allow before the routine sets in again.

In my view, it was irresponsible for the institution to carry out the drill in the manner they did, not because it was unprofessional but simply for the fact that the country is still in a traumatised state, despite people trying to act normal.

We have lived in peace for the longest time and while these drills are necessary, they should consider context. I do not wish to pretend to be a security-drill expert but I would suggest that where possible, we carry out these drills in phases.

For instance phase one should test awareness, phase two response and phase three to reaction. If done at intervals and repeatedly that might be more useful. In the words of Charles Onyango Obbo, some of these drills will be like medieval medicines that are more deadly than the disease they’re supposed to cure.