Wednesday, December 12, 2012
By CYRUS OMBATI
Increased terror threats are one of the critical insecurity issues that President Kibaki had to deal with.
And it is these threats that aroused the President to deploy the military to Somalia, a big gamble that has since paid off.
Police statistics show at least 45 separate explosions have occurred in the country since the 2010 referendum one that took place at Uhuru Park in Nairobi.
And of the explosions, which have left more than 100 people dead and dozens injured, police have been able to solve less than five.
The latest took place in Eastleigh last Friday leaving five people dead and at least 20 others, including Kamukunji MP Yusuf Hassan, hospitalised.
Mr Hassan, the highest-ranking Kenyan to be affected is in ICU following the explosion that left both of his legs fractured and those who have seen him say he may need amputation.
The incidents are being attributed to Somalia’s Al Shabaab militants who are reacting to the Kenyan military intervention in their country last year.
Terrorists have targeted churches and even public service vehicles with explosives, which have claimed dozens of lives.
Apart from terrorism, incidents of tribal clashes and cattle rustling have been on the rise despite efforts to contain them.
Close to 100 police officers have been killed and dozens wounded in the attacks that have been reported in the last year alone, which authorities term as record breaking.
The latest happened in Baragoi last month where more than 40 officers were killed at one spot in an ambush by bandits. Earlier in September, ten police officers were killed in another ambush in Tana Delta in inter-communal clashes.
Dozens other officers and at least four soldiers have been killed in North Eastern towns of Garissa, Mandera and Wajir in systematic terror-related attacks with few or no arrests.
Organised criminal gangs have been on the loose attacking at will with police reacting to the situations.
This is typical in Coast where the Mombasa Republican Council (MRC) and its offshoot Nyuki Movement for Independence (NMI) have caused deaths and damages before police reacted to the incidents.
Mungiki menace was rampant during President Kibaki’s first term but has been contained in the second one amid claims of a large number that was slain by security agencies.
Police hope the newly introduced laws will help to address the incidents. Proposed reforms in the service may help police address security at large.
Further, the planned installation of CCTV surveillance cameras in Nairobi may help address general crime and flow of traffic on major roads. The cameras will be in place by February.