Barriers won’t keep away killers, terrorists

On May 14, Nairobians woke up to find sections of Parliament Road and Harambee Avenue closed to vehicular traffic in what the Ministry of Interior termed as enhanced security measures to protect Parliament Buildings and key public offices in the area.

This measure was implemented without notice and occasioned great inconvenience to motorists who had to seek alternative routes to access public offices. Incidentally, pedestrians were and still are allowed to access these areas with minimal and/or very casual physical checks.

In June 2008, police used disproportionate force to keep away citizens from the precincts of Parliament during that year’s Budget speech. It has since become “normal” during the reading of the annual Budget speech to see armed police on horseback and in riot gear or with menacing police dogs take over roads and lanes adjacent to Parliament.

They close the entire area to human and vehicular traffic, reducing it to a mini-combat zone and creating a real mess. Judging by comments on social media, ordinary citizens are not amused by these antics. This outdated method of policing only serves to create a false sense of security for politicians.

Physical barriers such as roadblocks, walls, and fences are the most common measure of security employed to protect VIPs. Such measures cannot prevent any attacks and only serve to slow down a determined intruder. If anything, physical barriers only help in isolating a potential target.

A determined attacker or terrorist dedicated to gaining martyrdom would not be deterred by such archaic methods of policing. Anybody who has basic training in the protection of terrestrial installations and corporeal entities knows that isolating a probable target creates more insecurity than security as an isolated target is much easier to hit.

Isolating politicians from the masses does not make them any safer. It only creates resentment among the common people. It is telling that neither the leadership of Parliament nor the national security agencies made any comment when Kenyan youth took to social media to express support for Al-Shabaab when there were rumours that the terrorists were planning to blow up the House a few weeks ago.

The Kenya Police Service has for a long time maintained countless road blocks and vehicular barriers along major highways, but this has not helped in detecting or preventing serious transnational crimes such as terrorism, poaching, or trafficking in humans, weapons, and narcotic drugs. An integrated security system that incorporates physical access controls and video surveillance cameras placed discreetly where it is difficult to tamper with or disable them is the best defence against terrorist attacks or unwarranted intrusions into sensitive installations.

Inspector General Joseph Boinnet should, therefore, order his officers to remove their barriers from Harambee Avenue and Parliament Road once the Integrated Public Safety Communications and Surveillance System, which Safaricom was contracted to implement on behalf of the government, starts operating.  

Captain (Rtd) Wanderi is an advocate and the chairman of the Kenya Institute of Forensic Auditors. Twitter: @CaptWanderiCFE. [email protected]