Sh400m Nairobi CCTV cameras ‘are not reliable’

What you need to know:

  • In their report, the leaders reveal that some CCTV cameras are not connected to the control room.
  • Dr Kidero took the position after questions arose as to whether the CCTV cameras installed along the city’s main avenues and streets captured the murder.
  • The sad state of affairs is due to a blame game between the Nairobi County government and the Traffic Police department.

The Sh400 million CCTV cameras installed in Nairobi’s city centre are of poor quality and cannot be relied on, a report has revealed.

The Close Circuit Television Camera system has also broken down and some are not working at all.

A report tabled in the County Assembly by members of the Transport Committee shows that 33 out of the 40 functioning cameras produce such low quality images that they cannot be relied on by security agencies.

And the cameras cannot function at night because there are no street lights.

MCAs visited the control room at City Hall Annex on Thursday last week to assess the actual performance of the CCTV and “were shocked by the ineffectiveness.”

CCTV NOT CONNECTED

In their report, the leaders reveal that some CCTV cameras are not connected to the control room.

The CCTV project was initiated by Nairobi Metropolitan Ministry and funded by the World Bank before the current county government took over.

The report by the committee contradicts the position taken by Nairobi Governor Evans Kidero two weeks ago when Kabete MP George Muchai and his three aides were shot dead by a gunman. The Governor said City Hall had provided the CCTV footage which captured the murder along Kenyatta Avenue even though it was at night.

Dr Kidero took the position after questions arose as to whether the CCTV cameras installed along the city’s main avenues and streets captured the murder. City Hall has all along insisted that the cameras are reliable though officials in the Transport department have denied journalists access to the control room.

The report by MCAs, however, confirms that the control room exists.

But in their report, MCAs say four officers deployed at the control room work in two shifts but they do not enforce anything. They only “sit there to justify their pay”.

POLICE DENIAL

The control room is supposed to be used to control traffic in Nairobi. Currently, it is manned by the traffic police.

“The officers reported that there is no direct coordination between them and traffic marshals or the traffic police, thus the committee could not ascertain any tangible output of their work other than monitoring the cameras,” the report reads in part.

The sad state of affairs is due to a blame game between the Nairobi County government and the Traffic Police department.

Recently, police spokesperson Gatiria Mboroki said City Hall only involved them in the initial stages of the project but never heard from them again.”

However, the Nairobi Transport Executive Mohammed Abdullahi insists that they work with the traffic police.