Church leaders call for speedy enactment of anti-terrorism law to boost security

Catholic and Anglican church leaders have demanded speedy enactment of laws that will help Kenya’s security organs in the fight against terrorism.

They called on the National Assembly and the Senate to move quickly to pass legislation that will “enhance the capacity of our security organs to deal with insecurity”.

In a strongly worded statement, the leaders criticised the inadequacies of the current security organs, saying that such a force was incapable of protecting Kenyans from terrorist attacks.

“We find poor coordination between our National Intelligence Service, the Kenya Police Service and the entire disciplined forces to be totally unacceptable.

“A police force bogged down by bureaucratic and weak command structures and an intelligence service that has lost touch with the realities on the ground can never be trusted to secure Kenyans,” said Archbishop Eliud Wabukala of the Anglican Church.

EXTEND POLICE CAPACITY

The leaders also want the mandate of the National Police Service to be expanded to give it the capacity to deal swiftly and conclusively with security issues.

A Security Laws (Amendment) Bill is currently being debated in the National Assembly in response to the recent spate of terrorist attacks in Mandera County in which 64 non-Muslim Kenyans were killed.

The proposal has, however, been criticised by human rights activists, who say it will curtail freedom of expression, the right to privacy, freedom of the media and other civil liberties.

Commenting on the recent exit of Interior Cabinet Secretary Joseph ole Lenku and Inspector-General of Police David Kimaiyo, the church leaders said they have no interest in piecemeal reforms and wanted to see a complete overhaul of the security docket.

“We are calling for a deliberate, well-thought-out overhaul of the entire security apparatus in the country as opposed to piecemeal, cosmetic and reactionary changes,” they said.

The leaders also asked Muslim leaders to make more concerted efforts against what they said are targeted terrorist attacks on non-Muslims.

APPEAL TO MUSLIM LEADERS

“Over 200 Kenyans have died this year alone due to terror attacks. These attacks were initially on Christian places of worship but they are now directly targeting innocent Christians in public transport and (at) their places of work.

We therefore ask Muslim leaders to move beyond merely condemning the attacks and initiate practical steps to catch sympathisers of terror and help us build bridges between faiths and communities,” said Rev Wabukala.

Cardinal John Njue of the Catholic Church called on Christians to maintain peace and refrain from retaliatory attacks, saying that the country needs to remain united.

“Although the recent executions in Mandera showed patterns of religious intolerance, we ask Christians to maintain peace.

"As Jesus Christ taught us, it is not for us to avenge,” said the cardinal.

He added that the war against terrorism would need the concerted efforts of all Kenyans regardless of their religious affiliation.