Cabinet gives green light to Sh1.8bn security centre
What you need to know:
- The Cabinet has been reviewing measures to deal with insecurity, and the Kenya Defence Forces and National Police Service are currently engaged in a joint operation in both counties to flush out the attackers.
- According to sources within the Office of the President, the command centre is expected to be synchronised with the Sh12 billion Safaricom security systems, currently under investigation in Parliament.
- The government has lined up the construction of a forensic laboratory which is due for completion in June next year.
The government is setting up a Sh1.8 billion Joint Communication and Intelligence Command Centre to deal with insecurity.
A document seen by the Sunday Nation and tabled before the Cabinet three weeks ago shows that the plan for the centre, which will also integrate the 999 and 112 emergency line areas, came about in response to recent acts of terrorism that have unsettled the government.
According to the timelines set up in the document, the government will fast-track the completion of the command centre to December this year.
The document was tabled before Cabinet when the government was grappling with the attacks in Lamu and Tana River counties that have so far claimed about 100 lives in Mpeketoni, Hindi and Gamba.
The Cabinet has been reviewing measures to deal with insecurity, and the Kenya Defence Forces and National Police Service are currently engaged in a joint operation in both counties to flush out the attackers.
More than 200 people have been killed in acts of terrorism since Kenya invaded Somalia in October 2011 to root out the Al-Shabaab militant group.
After the attack last September 21 on Nairobi’s Westgate shopping mall in which at least 70 people were killed, there were calls to set up the communication command centre.
A move by a joint parliamentary committee that looked into the attack to recommend the setting up of a secure information management programme under one roof to be referred to as the Directorate of National Security was scuttled after the House rejected the report.
According to sources within the Office of the President, the command centre is expected to be synchronised with the Sh12 billion Safaricom security systems, currently under investigation in Parliament.
HELICOPTERS
The command centre is expected to address poor levels of preparedness and a gap in Kenya’s security network that has been exploited by criminals to unleash terror on Kenyans.
The document also shows that the Interior ministry wants to buy two troop carriers and three helicopters by December this year. One of the helicopters will be for VIPs. The police air wing was depleted after one chopper crashed killing Internal Security minister George Saitoti in 2012 while the rest are not in good condition.
The government has lined up the construction of a forensic laboratory which is due for completion in June next year. The ministry has allocated Sh571.6 million for the project. It was mooted 12 years ago but got enmeshed in the Anglo Leasing scandal and stalled.
The ongoing recruitment of 10,000 police officers has created the need to arm the officers when they graduate and take up active duty.
This is expected to cost the government Sh2.9 billion, and buying guns, ammunition and protective gear for the officers will cost a further Sh2 billion.
The Interior ministry also hopes to install cell phone jammers and CCTV cameras to the tune of Sh274 million to prevent crime in prisons.
