Uhuru’s headache as pressure mounts to overhaul security

PHOTO | FILE Senator Kipchumba Murkomen (left) with Senate Majority Leader Kindiku Kithure in the House. The two have called on the President to replace security chiefs.

What you need to know:

  • Balancing political interests, personal loyalties and the law may prove a major challenge as President mulls shake up of top officers with pressure mounting over Mpeketoni killings
  • Questions have been raised about the suitability of Mr Lenku in handling complex security issues
  • The two also questioned the move to sack senior security personnel in Lamu County following the attacks in Mpeketoni while sparing those with the overall mandate to oversee the country’s security.

President Uhuru Kenyatta is under increasing pressure from key members of his ruling Jubilee coalition to change security chiefs in the wake of lapses that have left scores of people dead.

After the death of at least 60 people following a two-day attack in Mpeketoni that started last Sunday, the President faces a major dilemma in balancing any such changes with competing and turbulent interests.

While addressing the nation on Tuesday, President Kenyatta blamed security officials in Lamu for the collapse in intelligence and response, which left the killers roaming the area for hours without challenge.

He also inferred that he had faith in the current security leadership.

“I am satisfied that, for the most part, our security agencies have performed well and thwarted innumerable terrorist and other criminal conspiracies and attempts,” he said.

But demands for change at the top are growing as loud as they were after the deadly Westgate terror attack in Nairobi that left at least 69 people dead. 
This week, Senate Majority Leader Kithure Kindiki and Elgeyo Marakwet Senator Kipchumba Murkomen — both senior Jubilee figures popular for their defence of the government — led the House in demanding radical surgery.

The two also questioned the move to sack senior security personnel in Lamu County following the attacks in Mpeketoni while sparing those with the overall mandate to oversee the country’s security.

“As a country, we have had enough. We are asking the President not to fire the small men only. We need to see someone taking responsibility. Taking responsibility does not mean you are guilty. They could have done their best. But the best is not good enough,” said Prof Kindiki.

But sources have told the Sunday Nation that the President’s advisers have been presenting different and sometimes competing solutions to any such changes, further complicating the making of any decision. 

Those in the eye of the storm are Interior Cabinet Secretary Joseph ole Lenku, Principal Secretary Mutea Iringo, Defence Cabinet Secretary Raychelle Omamo, Kenya Defence Forces chief Julius Karangi, Inspector- General of Police David Kimaiyo, CID Director Ndegwa Muhoro and the Director-General of the National Intelligence Service (NIS) Michael Gichangi.

Matters have not been made easy by the fact that in his State of the Nation report to Parliament in March, President Kenyatta promised far-reaching reforms of the country’s security to better protect the public from terrorism, according to the accountability documents he filed with Parliament.

The President had also promised after last year’s Westgate terrorist attack to establish a commission of inquiry into the security lapses. He has since not commented on the matter.

The first hurdle facing President Kenyatta now is that some of the top security chiefs including the Inspector-General, NIS Director-General and CID Director enjoy security of tenure under the law.

His reluctance to replace the Interior Cabinet Secretary, who seems to have lost public support since the poor handling of the Westgate crisis, is said to be informed by uncertainty about the parliamentary process in case of a new appointment. MPs are required to vet nominees to the Cabinet but they have in recent months closed ranks in their criticism of the top security officials.

The process is also expected to take time, further affecting the already delicate security situation.  

QUESTIONS RAISED

Questions have been raised about the suitability of Mr Lenku in handling complex security issues as he has no professional background or experience in the sector. But in an interview with the Sunday Nation, Mr Lenku insisted he was up to the task.

Yesterday, State House remained non-committal on whether there would be any changes in the wake of the Mpeketoni massacre. 

“That one I’d have to ask him (Mr Kenyatta),” presidential spokesman Manoah Esipisu said.

Mr Esipisu, however, confirmed that plans to establish a Kenya Defence Force Metropolitan Command, which were first announced last December, were ongoing.

As part of fighting insecurity, he said the government had hired 8,000 police officers and would recruit another 10,000 to beef up the personnel as they moved to increase the number of vehicles available to the force.

Mr Esipisu said that this year’s budget committed more funds to security agencies than at any other time in the country’s history and added that this was supposed to translate to better services to Kenyans.

In his State of the Nation report, one of the actions the President promised was what he described as “a shake-up” of the NIS. Yesterday, Mr Esipisu told the Sunday Nation the matter was still under consideration.

President Kenyatta also promised Kenyans through the report to Parliament that he would “enhance and invest in specialist anti-terrorism unit with professional expertise to tackle groups such as Al-Shabaab”.

He further urged the passing of a new Prevention of Terrorism Act “to give the police and other security forces powers to keep Kenya safe and ensure no Kenyan is unfairly targeted or harassed”. The promise of the formation of a new security agency, whose job would be to patrol and secure national borders, was also presented.

On Saturday, House Majority Leader Aden Duale said that Parliament was scheduled to debate the State of the Nation report but added that the government had made major strides by giving the necessary budgets for police cars, housing and insurance for officers in the coming months.

“The President must be listening and he will act in his wisdom,” Mr Duale told the Sunday Nation.

Questions have now been raised on why it has taken long to implement some of the promises even as pressure piles on him to make personnel changes.

But there also seem to be more intricate issues for the President to deal with. An official, who spoke to Sunday Nation on condition of anonymity, said some of the top security chiefs, who were inherited from the Mwai Kibaki administration, have proved their loyalty to the President and helped him to settle.

Any reshuffle would also stir the ethnic balance debate, especially if the Inspector-General is affected. Mr Kimaiyo comes from the Rift Valley, which is Deputy President Ruto’s backyard, and leaders from the region have been complaining of skewed appointments in favour of professionals perceived to be affiliated to coalition partner TNA.

The government is still smarting from the recent transfer of the former National Youth Service Director Kiplimo Rugut and his replacement with Mr Nelson Githinji, which nearly cost Cabinet Secretary Anne Waiguru her job. 

In the Senate this week, Prof Kindiki expressed doubt that the Cord leadership could be behind the senseless killings in Mpeketoni. 

“Anybody telling us Cord organised attacks at Mpeketoni is living in the last century. If Cord organised the attacks, where were the police?” Prof Kindiki asked during a heated debate in the Senate.

The President has ruled out Al-Shabaab involvement and instead said “local political networks” were to blame for the violence.

But the two Jubilee senators and their counterparts moved to discredit the country’s intelligence gathering system and accused Mr Lenku and Mr Kimaiyo of sleeping on the job.

“I am embarrassed with the kind of people we have put and entrusted to be in-charge of our security,” said Prof Kindiki.

“Parliament should investigate the suitability of such office holders and take appropriate action.”

Senator Murkomen equally minced no words.

The President, he said, inherited a security system that has been in place for a long time and said there was need to sack the entire system if they don’t resign of their own volition.