WESTGATE: A CROWN OF FAILURE. My heart goes out to the victims, family and friends and the whole nation on this wanton act of terrorism. My friend and work mate Ben, may you rest in Eternal peace. May God give them the courage to withstand this….. Just after the world leaders launched the ‘’New Deal’’ for Somalia, the Al shabab has launched an attack and within the upmarket of Nairobi. I do not want to lay blames, I do not want to be pessimistic or alarmist but what I would like to say is that Al shabab will hit again and again and it will be more punitive. I have concrete reasons for being pessimistic, in a country that produces the best or among the best long distance runners in the planet of mankind, with serene environment, home to renowned Nobel Peace Laureate, the most Geo strategic country in Sub Saharan Africa. The Kenya Defence Forces in conjunction with AMISON has managed to drive away Alshabab from most parts in Somalia; however, the forces still do not have the legitimacy in the eyes of the public. They are seen as an occupying force. Any military take over needs a rapid follow up of transformation of people’s lives in terms of infrastructural development and service delivery. AMISON is still limited in a few areas and this has allowed Al shabab to regroup. AMISON and world leaders need to win the support of Muslim states and even get a’’ fatwa’’.ie a clerical un wavering support. Still AMISON lacks an Ideology and an exit strategy which begs the question for how long, why and when? To liberate Kismayu, KDF had a special unit of commandos for dealing with urban terrorism; it excelled in Kismayu, but what of in our urban centers? The police anti-terrorism unit, what is its composition? When was its last time it was trained or is just ad separate amorphous unit compositing of any unit from the police? A critical look at Nigeria informs what is happening in Kenya. Nigeria led the ECOMOG forces to rout Islamic fundamentalists in Mali. ECOMOG so far has been so successful in Mali to the extent Mali is gearing towards full-fledged democratic elections. However, at home the ulcer of Boko Haram sucks. Boko Haram (trained by Al shabab) an Islamic jihadist group decided to retreat and launch attacks within Nigeria disguised as religious sectarianism. Why the comparison? Boko Haram exploited the divisive nature of the Nigerian State and Police to launch attacks in Nigeria. The Kenyan Police is also another rug tag group and clear does not meet the Samuel P. Huntington and Nordlingerrequirements of a professional force. This stems from the recruitment process. The force in Moi’s time was a political tool to check mate any dissenting voice and the likes of Bishop Njoya and Matiba have a story to tell. Moi used it as a tool for reward to the Kalenjin community, and most positions went to the Tugen, Mrakwet, Sengwer and Pokot to cushion then from the marginalization of the government in development. As a result the police became a highly inefficient unit with the main job profile being –tribal allegiance. Muturi of Kenya in Management says tribe or nepotism wins loyalty but not efficiency. Kibaki in an attempt to counter balance the force used the NYS as a path for saturating the police force and the military with his tribesmen, few people questioned this. The Jubilee government is now a ‘’sandwich‘’ of the Kalenjin and Kikuyu tribes, a look at the OCPDS and OCS across the country suggests a clear government policy: ‘’Protect our hard won government the rest can desperately hang on their own’’ As a result the most important thing is protecting the powers that be and not the common man. Police recruitment is alleged to be one of the most lucrative jobs in Kenya, we are better than Uganda and Sudan where we have forceful conscription but the haves take it in as little as ksh 100 000 bribe. Efficiency and professionalism has been sacrificed at the altar of political expediency. Last year grenades were intercepted in Isiolo after they skipped several roadblocks due to bribes, this attests to how this has helped terrorists whose hands are well oiled have a free run in Kenya, just like Boko Haram in Nigeria. Our borders are so porous, leaking at any opportunity; they are worse than the hemorrhage woman in the biblical story. The coordination of Intelligence, a schoolboy mistake It is believed that our intelligence had information prior to the P.E.V, but sat on it and Kenya went up in flames, we don’t talk of this since our tribe wasn’t a victim. What information did they have? What made them hesitate? Westgate has CCTV cameras, where is the information ever relayed? Who was working on that information? Benjamin Netanyahu had warned of Iran being in plans to hit African Western targets. Israel is one of the best intelligence gathering and execution state in the world. Who took action on this to secure ourselves? Has our intelligence taken too to the look left policy? What does China have to help us in security and human Rights except taking our resources at rack-bottom prices? The US marine and The British have decided to protect only their interests as we politicize everything, The UN-Nairobi is just a few minutes’ drive from Westgate and what help did we get from them even before the tragedy? Our police is a reactionary force, it does not anticipate security problems, it thinks and executes its work in a unilinear way, for long it was pre occupied with the opposition chief and calming election discontent and forgot everything. Why did Al shabab choose to attack that very day? With the UN meeting it was a strong way of sending a statement top the whole world that they can’t be easily wished away. The Kenyan forces have stopped gathering information on their own and coordinating with other countries and rely on Bloggers who at times are partisan, speculative and hollow. With the ICC cases gaining momentum the issue at hand is ICC and how to gag public debate. So with a unilinear mentality, strike now…. And it sadly it happened. We can depend on a hotelier with a poor policy making and execution process background for a ‘’minister’’- cabinet secretary of such an important docket. Sunny Bindra a Sunday Nation Columnist talked of ‘’tenderprenuers’’ in Kenyan government and this informs the appointments of certain individuals to further their aim of enrichment. Where does Personal responsibility lie? In Kenya, individualistic tendencies have eaten into the national political culture and moral fabric; we do not care what happens next door and can’t share information apart from Facebook status. Wale Akiyemi, talks of the ‘’me ‘’ in an organization, we need a change and it starts with me and you. Where isthe disaster kit/ fund to help the victims as this was factored in the budget? The Safaricom MPESA Kitty is a noble one, however, much philanthropic and charitable enough we have to question the government on the disaster budgetary allocation. The media is back again but this time new phrase ‘’Kenya as one’’ as if we only need to be one only in time of crisis…….Surprisingly, despite the oratorical flourish, my president, the Commander in Chief took 10 hours to speak…..God help us, may God help Kenya.
Posted on: Mon, 23 Sep 2013 07:50:03 +0000
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