Japan proves it’s a true friend of Africa, Kenya shows it was up to the task

Africa and Japan in pledge to fight terrorism, piracy

What you need to know:

  • Officers drawn from the KDF, National Intelligence Service, the Presidential Escort Unit, and the Directorate of Criminal Investigations formed a joint team which provided security for the 36 leaders and United Nations officials.
  • Some of the undercover officers were booked into rooms in the same hotels, purporting to be visitors and would mingle freely with the people as they collected intelligence.
  • In Nairobi, 67 hotels where the 36 dignitaries were staying were under tight security.

At least 600 local and foreign security officers were mobilised to guard 22 presidents, two prime ministers and 67 hotels in which the dignitaries who attended the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD VI) summit which ended on Sunday evening stayed.

Officers drawn from the Kenya Defence Forces, National Intelligence Service, the Presidential Escort Unit, and the Directorate of Criminal Investigations formed a joint team which provided security for the 36 leaders and United Nations officials.

Some of the undercover officers were booked into rooms in the same hotels, purporting to be visitors and would mingle freely with the people as they collected intelligence. The officers were allowed access to the hotels’ closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras to effectively monitor the areas.

The story of hosting this conference started sometime in December 2014 when Kenya and Ethiopia jostled over the rare chance that not only brings prestige and boosts a country’s image abroad, but is also rewarding in terms of financial returns.

“At the time, Kenya and Ethiopia were actually vying on two fronts; they wanted a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council. And they also wanted to host this event. The AU had to broker some understanding,” said a senior Foreign Affairs Ministry official.

African Union Commission chairperson Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma convinced Kenya to abandon its quest for a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council for Ethiopia to let Kenya host Ticad.

But Kenya had another problem, the Gambia had lobbied to host the summit too, and Japan had no problems with that. In July 2015, Deputy President William Ruto travelled to Banjul where he met Gambian leader Yahya Jammeh before Banjul relinquished its push in favour of Nairobi.

Ticad was to bring in 10,000 delegates, and a host of heads of state. That brought an extra burden on logistics. The conference would cost Sh500 million, although Foreign Affairs CS Amina Mohamed said Japan, the UNDP, various Japanese firms and AUC contributed.

The government formed the National Preparatory Committee; bringing officials from Foreign Affairs, Interior, Devolution, and industrialisation ministries.

The preparatory committee was later split into various subcommittees including logistics, budget, security, protocol and liaisons. These committees drew up plans and briefed the concerned ministers on the same. They included other co-organisers and representatives from groups organising side events.

SENDING INVITES

The Logistics Committee was headed by Internal Security Secretary Amos Gathecha. His role was to ensure, vehicles, venue, facilities for meetings and other things including roads to the venue and hotels for senior guests were available.

And since many heads of state were coming, the burden of organising the invites and reception for these dignitaries fell on the Head of Protocol Department Tabu Irina.

Ms Irina, the second woman in the country to hold this post, was charged with sending invites to the presidents. She sent invitation to all the 54 presidents of countries who are members of the African Union.

Japan would also send invites to these leaders as they were co-organisers alongside Kenya, the AU Commission and the UNDP and the World Bank.

Traditionally, when a country invites a head of state, it meets all the travel costs including the hotel bills and local transportation. This means Kenya had to book hotels room - in this case two for every leader accompanied by a spouse.

In Nairobi, 67 hotels where the 36 dignitaries were staying were under tight security.

Areas around Villa Rosa Kempinski, Hilton and Intercontinental hotels were out of bounds for the public. Movement around these hotels and at the venue were restricted and vehicles and people accessing such areas were properly screened.

The major roads –Parliament and Taifa roads, City Hall Way, and Wabera, Mama Ngina, and Standard streets –were closed and will remained closed until today evening.

The security operation at such hotels involved both uniformed and non-uniformed officers. Other officers were deployed on the outer cordon to restrict movement and also facilitate the smooth flow of traffic. Other officers were deployed along the routes leading to the hotels from the venue.

The Presidential Escort Unit officers worked closely with the security details of the visiting heads and by Sunday evening, no incident had been reported.

The team had planned in advance in coordination with the respective countries. “It involved weeks of planning and immense coordination and communication,” said a senior security official who sought anonymity.

When these leaders arrive at the airport, each is given a protocol car to move him around, two escort cars with security officers and a luggage van.

Government sources said the Kenya Air Force officers and the radar controllers at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) were on high alert and closely monitored the airspace following reports that terrorists had planned to attack the city using an aircraft.

The terrorists had considered a private aircraft as an alternative, and was to either fly into the city from Nanyuki or Masai Mara, according to reports.

The airspace was monitored from JKIA, Laikipia Air Base, Moi Air Base in Eastleigh and other Forward Operating Bases (FOBs) at the Moi International Airport, and also at Mandera, and Wajir.