Kenya on border alert after Uganda blasts

Kenya has heightened the level of surveillance along the borders following explosions in Kampala, Uganda in which seventy people are reported dead.

“Following what has happened in Uganda, we are much more vigilant and have heightened surveillance and security along our borders and all entry ports,” Kenya's deputy police spokesman Mr Charles Wahong’o said.

He said that more effort is being put especially because of the number of visitors the country receives all year round.

The deputy police spokesman said that the country’s security agents have always manned the borders with Somalia, Uganda, Ethiopia, Sudan and Tanzania.

Truckloads of military and police personnel were being dispatched to reinforce the 675 kilometre (420 mile) frontier, according to an AFP report.

"We have tightened security at the borders, there should be no worry at all," the news agency quotes military spokesman Bogita Ongeri as saying. "We are all aware of what happened in Uganda, we are very much alert. Kenyans should not be worried at all, we are very vigilant at the borders. We have secured the borders," he said.

Abnormal activity

And, the country's deputy police spokesman appealed to Kenyans around the country to be equally vigilant and report any abnormal activity to police.

“We know we are vulnerable and we should take all precautions. People should, however, be rest assured that there is enough security but they should alert police in case they notice something that is not normal,” he said.

The deputy police spokesman said that security agents are alert and prepared for anything with fully fledged teams working 24 hours to monitor the country’s sea, air and land routes.

He, however, noted that Kenya has been supportive of its troubled neighbours by offering refuge to those who flee fighting especially from Somalia.

"We have a good relationship with our neighbours. It is our country that has been supportive of the people of Somalia. We have hosted them in refugee camps and those seeking asylum have stayed here,” Mr Wahong’o said.

Kenyan Anti Terrorism Police Unit detectives have on several occasions arrested and detained people on suspicion of involvement in terror activities.

The country has twice suffered terror attacks, the first of the US embassy in Nairobi on August 7, 1998 and the second twin attacks in Paradise hotel in Kikambala, Mombasa and an Israeli chartered flight at Moi International airport.