Has Nkaissery shown competence in handling the security docket?

Nkaissery is a failure to the system, even though he is better than his predecessors. He rules through dictatorship, openly displaying allegiance to one group.

A minister of internal security is expected to ensure that citizens are respected so that they easily co-operate and obey the laws, but the police service is largely still a force.There is a huge deficit across the board in terms of security.

The security institutions, instead of focusing on people-friendly methods of handling insecurity, focus on big-brother rules and military methods to impose their power on the people and show they are in charge.

Security agents largely do not respect the law. The minister himself violated the law when he issued a state of emergency in Lamu and Mandera without following the legal procedure. How then would he lead the people to bow to the rule of law?

Like other ministers, Nkaissery engages in open politics showing affiliations to a specific party. He leads by giving decrees instead of building capacity.

The police mostly obtain evidence illegally and such evidence cannot be use in the court, therefore slowing or stunting the prosecution process.

In the fight against terrorism, the progress is minimal. Corruption is the biggest security risk yet it is being escalated by the police. There are many cases of subscribers to a particular religion getting disappeared for suspicion of being terrorists. These are detrimental steps in handling national security.

Mr Ndubi is a Constitutional lawyer.

Nkaissery was appointed at a time when Kenya was hanging on the brink of a precipice. Terrorism and ethnic violence were at their peak when he was appointed.

What Kenya needed was a proactive person to properly coordinate the security apparatus in the country, which Nkaiserry has efficiently provided. He has prevented many terrorist threats and also contained many cases of common crimes that have slowly been gaining root in the country.

Our culture and societal norms continue to pose a threat to security too. The glorification and acceptance of extra judicial killings, enforced disappearances and mob justice, has ensured that these vices remain.

The police bypass judicial procedures and take matters into their hands because of the set high threshold for evidence and at the same time high demand for performance from the public. If the security agencies coordination was enhanced, it would be easier to contain such malpractices.

Unfortunately, some of the insecurity challenges that are still facing the country are not directly under his docket. It is therefore upon the head of the Executive arm of the government, who is the commander in chief of the armed forces, to strengthen the security bodies and stamp his authority in that area.

Nkaissery has depicted great competency in handling this docket. However, he needs to reinforce his personnel and increase the level of preparedness for the docket to perform even better.

Dr Werunga is a medical doctor