Kakamega Senator Boni Khalwale
Thursday, April 30, 2015
Senators have faulted security agencies over lapses that have made the country vulnerable to terror attacks.
The senate adjourned its business on Tuesday to discuss terror threats to Parliament and other institutions, a day after the House's staffer Ali Abdulmajid was arrested on grounds that he was helping Al Shabaab to launch an attack on the facility. The senators criticised the way security teams have handled intelligence reports. Kakamega Senator Boni Khalwale said the Parliamentary Service Commission (PSC) has not investigated an employee arrested on Sunday on suspicion of having links with Al-Shabaab.
He accused PSC commissioners Adan Keynan (Eldas MP) and Abdulahi Ali of recruiting a "disproportionate number" of Somali youth to work in Parliament in the last few year, an issue which he says raises suspicion. Minority Leader Moses Wetang'ula warned that terror threats in Parliament were real and not only in Kenya but everywhere in the world. "If indeed the arrest is based on information then we are living in a dangerous time," he said.
"It is very worrying that somebody who has been one of us for 10 years can be linked to Al Shabaab. We should learn from our past," said Daniel Karaba (Kirinyaga).
David Musila (Kitui), a PSC commissioner, said it is baffling that Senate has adjourned five times to discuss security issues without action. Mutula Kilonzo Jnr (Makueni) said heightened security checks at the gates are not enough. Hassan Omar (Mombasa), however, cautioned his colleagues against profiling Muslims and their leaders as terrorists on the basis of religion.