Francis ole Kaparo: Conduct fair security operations

The chairman of the National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC), Francis ole Kaparo, has asked the Government to ensure communities are not victimised during security operations in clash-torn areas.

Mr Kaparo said the Government should look for individual culprits and deal with them instead of punishing whole communities.

Kaparo was referring to the ongoing military operation in Kapedo following the brutal killings of 21 police officers by bandits.

“Punishment must be attached to the individual crime. Whenever there is an operation, it must be done fairly for all communities in an area. Among the things that destroy society is the sense that we are not the same or treated equally,” he said.

Responding to issues raised by the Editors’ Guild on NCIC, Kaparo said unequal treatment was a major driver for conflict. He added the commission was  currently in the process of auditing all 47 counties to ensure fairness was upheld with regards to personnel, political leadership and budgetary allocations.

 POLITICAL LINES

“The current conflict in Northern Kenya is the result of a new problem arising from marginalisation brought about by devolution,” he said.

The Editors’ Guild urged the commission to avoid being split along political lines, adding it was high time opportunities in the devolved units benefited all to avert conflicts.

Kaparo assured NCIC would work to rectify imbalances in counties, but warned it would not be easy as it required a lot of tact and patience.

He, however, said the commission lacked sufficient resources and staff to effectively execute its mandate.

He called on the State to increase funding to the commission to enable it effectively fulfill its mandate.

“NCIC is a poorly funded organisation. We are working with Parliament to have our budgetary allocations increased from the current Sh178 million per annum,” he said.

He reiterated it took collective effort to foster peace and enhance national cohesion and integration and admitted the hatred on social media was worrying, and regulating it was a challenge because Internet users did not use their real names.

“The heat on social media is a volcano likely to erupt but we will do our best to get those who have gone overboard, identify and charge them,” said Kaparo.

Macharia Gaitho, the former chair of the Editors’ Guild, said NCIC should tone down the language used on social media and help minimise conversations that propagate hate speech.