Garissa University gets Sh2 million security gadget

An IT company has donated a Sh2 million biometric security gadget to Garissa University College.

The equipment will be used to keep the bio-data of all students and workers so as to deter strangers from entering the facility without permission.

The university was reopened last week, following a terror attack in April last year, where 148 people, mostly students, were killed.

Addressing journalists Monday at the university, Joseph Chacha, a representative of System 1 Limited, which donated the gadget, said it would allow easy scrutiny of persons entering the institution since it can detect the fingerprints of students, staff and workers in the college.

He said administrators will be able to know the details of anyone who is in the university at any given time after their fingerprints are scanned.

Mr Chacha said the gadget was an additional tool to the enhanced security check by the Government outside the university.

Chacha said the donation is aimed to serve as a solidarity gesture with the university community, who suffered one of the worst terror attacks in the country on April 2, last year.

"The gadget will reduce the dependence on national or college Identity Cards, which can be stolen from students by criminals, as it will make those accessing the institution detected through their fingerprints."

University council member and Finance Development Committee Chairman Julius Mwamu thanked the company for the donation, saying the university is now the "safest", with a police camp inside the institution.

He added that reopening the university had shown that people can rise up after a terrorist attack. Mwamu also called upon other donors to contribute in rebuilding the institution.

"We are confident that the institution is now the safest in Kenya and call upon students to come and enrol for various academic programmes. We appreciate System 1's donation and are looking forward for more donors," he said.

Since its reopening last week, hundreds of students have registered for various courses in the institution, with the number still surging, according to the college officials. Some 139 new students have so far registered while 60 previous private sponsored students have started their classes.

Some of the private sponsored students who spoke to The Standard expressed happiness to be back at the institution, having been away for nine months.

Fredrick Owino, a third year student, said although he still had bad memories of some of his friends who were killed by terrorists, he was happy that the institution had reopened.

"No matter what the terrorists did to us, we will still pursue our dream careers. We are here now and are going nowhere," he said.