Episodic measures will not address insecurity

Since the deadly terror attack at Garissa University College, there have been many proposals and suggestions on how to improve the country’s security.

The public and other observers have put blame on the government, accusing it of laxity. There are many other suggestions, including the building of a wall from Mandera to Kiunga.

Some people are questioning the value of security gadgets such as metal detectors and rungus when it is well known that terrorists have no time to be screened and are ready to kill and die.

Following the Westgate terror attack on September 21, 2013, we quickly rolled out a multi-billion-shilling CCTV project in Nairobi and the Nyumba Kumi concept was activated.

Now there is a suggestion for youth to be trained in paramilitary skills. We are forgetting that such a move could be counter-productive considering that most of our youth are under-employed and frustrated.

Arming them with paramilitary training could be disastrous. It appears Kenyans will always come up with episodic security measures.

We might not have a comprehensive national security strategy and, to achieve this, we must have a clear roadmap focusing on current threats and anticipated problems. We need an elaborate national security risk assessment and mitigation process, including crisis management.

URGENT RESEARCH

Scholars need to research on issues of corruption, religious extremism/radicalisation, drug abuse, security organ structures, funding of these institutions, recruitment processes, logistics, and the role of the media in security. We should focus on how the public abets corruption instead of blaming the police force alone.

Serious crime mapping will be required in order to determine the resources needed to address insecurity. For instance, is building a wall a solution to terrorist infiltration? What will be the benefit of a wall monitored by demoralised public servants against highly tempting bribes from illegal immigrants? How is information sharing between the public and police done? Why is there a general mistrust between the public and the police? These are all pertinent issues.

Meanwhile, reaction time has been a challenge to our security organs. We need to restructure security organs and empower them with proper logistical backup.

There is no point in having well trained commandos who cannot be mobilised on time. How do we deploy paramilitary units in bandit-prone areas? We must adhere to the concept of reaction time in case of a security breach. We must always be ahead of time once crime is committed. If terrorists take less than 10 minutes to launch mayhem, we must react in less than five minutes.

The national security strategy should include other sectors such as the private security industry, security management professionals, scholars and input from foreign countries that may be better experienced on issues such as terrorism and disaster management. With this kind of approach, we might realise meaningful achievements in securing Kenya. Blame games and finger pointing will not help us.

Twalib Mbarak is a retired military officer and a certified security management professional. [email protected]