Nairobians will have to wait longer before CCTV cameras are installed in key areas in the city

By HUDSON GUMBIHI

Big Brother will not be watching you, at least for the time being.

Nairobians will have to wait longer before CCTV cameras are installed in key areas in the city.

Currently, the level of surveillance in Nairobi is still low.

Most of the city and its environs are not covered by CCTV cameras save for those installed by private institutions and individuals.

A control room for the cameras is currently being installed at the Nairobi Provincial Police headquarters.

The project expected to cost Sh11 billion ran into legal trouble after two rival Chinese companies went to court in February over the control of the lucrative tender.

ZTE Corporation won the tender but Huawei claims its competitor had a higher bid despite offering inferior technology.

However, ZTE dismissed Huawei’s allegations saying the solutions it was offering were based on third generation (3G) technology that can be upgraded to 4G.

Police at the moment largely rely on CCTV footage provided by businessmen and individuals who have electronically secured their premises.

Nairobi police chief Benson Kibue said they had successfully analysed images of suspects captured on most private CCTV cameras.

“We have managed to make arrests of the suspects caught on camera. We are happy bank raids are a thing of the past because of the installation of these cameras,” he said.

He said experts are in the early stages of setting up the control room at his office.

According to the police boss, once functional, there will be no need of stationing officers on the roads to control traffic.

The cameras will be equipped with number plate recognition and tracking features, which will detect and track down traffic offenders.

They will be installed in potential crime hot spots and crowded places where physical police policing has been difficult.

Priority areas include Upper Hill, Industrial Area, Jogoo Road, Community Area, Thika Road, Eastleigh, Mombasa Road, Eastleigh, Waiyaki Way, Ngong Road and the CBD.