Intelligence needs reform, says MP
Killers of religious leaders at the coast have not been identified because of failures in the intelligence gathering system, the National Security and Administration Committee chairman Asman Kamama has said.
Mr Kamama (below) told MPs, who were angry at his committee’s response, that the situation was made worse by prevalence of small arms.
The statement followed a question by Abdullswamad Sherriff (Mvita, ODM) on the apparent extra-judicial killings of nine Muslim preachers and two Christian pastors at the coast.
“We have systemic challenges in our intelligence so we have to agree that we need to improve on our intelligence system so that we can investigate these cases and come up with concrete answers,” said Mr Kamama.
He said anybody with information about the killers of Sheikh Samir Khan, Sheikh Ibrahim Omar, Gaddafi Mohamed, Isa Abdulla and Omar Abu Rumeisa should take it to police.
He also defended the rendition of five Kenyans to Uganda after the deadly bombings in Kampala in July 2010, arguing it was in line with the East African Community treaty.
The committee chairman said he raised the issue of proliferation of small arms with the President. Illegal arms had been recovered in Tana River and Baringo, and another operation started in Baragoi two weeks ago, he added.
Shariff Athman (Lamu East, UDF) said it was regrettable that victims of extra-judicial killings were Muslims. “I would like full information because I don’t think Muslims will be happy with the explanation he has given,” he said.
