Late yesterday, as I watched football, [sic], I was writing a letter to
my dad which I had planned to post on my blog this morning, but things happened
to move so fast and I found myself overhearing information on #MpeketoniSiege
or #MpeketoniAttack courtesy of Twitter. (Yeah, Twitter is our all-time CNN on
this side of the world.) I have therefore chosen, as a patriot and a true
Kenyan, to scribble a few notes on solutions to terror attacks that have grown
rampant in this nation. I'll still post that letter though - somewhere in the
course of this week, I know that my dad will still understand ;-) - so keep
peeping...
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As a Kenyan, nothing pains me more than seeing my fellow citizens in
such a beautiful and free nation suffer due to lack of insecurity. Just in a
period of less than one year, so many have died, so many families have lost
their loved ones and pain has been eminent across the country. We have all been
affected by these terror attacks I none way or another.
Instead of sitting around and complaining, and as a devoted Christian, I
have stopped and prayed: for those families victimized by these attacks. I have
also fasted endlessly, (this is not blabbing - God is my witness), and talked
to the Lord about our situation and I know that as sure as He listens to our
prayer, He is going to come though, help and save us.
But to add on this, I have a few recommendations to the JUBILEE
government which I will list below as part of what I think is part of the solution
to this problem instead of spending endless days on empty politics and
stop-gapping CORD which is just playing its role in ensuring that the government
is on its feet and is ardently serving the citizens of this great republic.
Note: I am neither JUBILEE nor
CORD.
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| One of the houses torched by the attackers. |
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| Residents view two vans that were burnt down. |
Here are the recommendations;
1. Allow the Police Force and
security organs to use mobile phones as a way of enhancing real-time
communication between citizens and our security forces. We are in the 21st century, and you can bet that over 70% of the Kenyan
population has access to a mobile phone. At least one out of ten people can
access a mobile phone within a walking area of 10 minutes. Let the Police get
toll free mobile numbers for every police station across the country and make
these numbers accessible for reporting any incidences on suspected terror
attacks. It is that easy: dedicate these numbers to suspected terror attacks
and once we are done, make them open to other criminal incidences. We all know
that calling 112 or 999 in this nation is only comparable to going to the moon
by plane: a big failure. Why is it so hard for the government to buy cheap
phones and dedicate them to this task? CCTV cameras don't give real-time feedback
when such remote areas as Mpeketoni are concerned, mobile phones will help.
Someone can report shootings this fast, and the police should be ready to
listen to us. (And it doesn’t need to be the police doing it. The government can
create a special unit to freely receive information from citizens all day
long.) Security agencies should know that we the citizens of this great
republic sometimes know more about terror suspects than they do. Give us an
open platform to deliver information to you!!
2. Liaise with foreign governments
to obtain security intelligence on terror attacks. The government should stop being
proud and ease itself towards gaining knowledge on how to run our security.
Pride precedes a fall. Just this morning, the national broadcaster reported
that the Al Shabaab are claiming ownership of the attacks that begun yesterday
at 8pm. Intelligence is important and it should not be taken for granted. If
western countries begun evacuating their citizens from Mpeketoni in the
afternoon of yesterday before the attacks, why didn’t the government act to ask
them why they were doing this? Is it not just pride at the expense of innocent
citizens?
3. Security is a priority and the
right of every Kenyan, so the government should stop politicizing it. The opposition under CORD has argued that there is need for dialogue to
solve the problems facing this nation – amongst them being security. The government
has thrown aside such a possibility and the only thing they seem to be good at
is heckling away CORD and banning their rallies. CORD may not have requested
for the need for dialogue in the best way, but the underlying truth is that
dialogue is important to solving the problems we are facing as Kenyans, and the
problems we are likely to face in future if action is not taken. Kenya is a
democracy and if our government is not autocratic, (although I have a feeling
that is where we are headed), it should allow for dialogue to continue for the
good of the whole nation. The more we politicize security matters, the more free
Kenyan citizens suffer due to the arrogance and pride of our leadership. Open
communication in solving a major Kenyan problem should not be underrated or
overlooked due to petty politics.
- Equip
our police. I say it again: equip and motivate our police!!! Let
me give you an analogy: How can a university student belonging to a campus
that has less competence, facilitation and minute infrastructure compete
in a market that is overcrowded with other students that are well trained
and equipped? He/she can’t. In the same way, let the government first
equip the policemen in these highly vulnerable zones before rolling out
this upgrade to other areas. I hear that the attackers had better and more
sophisticated weaponry – to the extent of even attacking a police
station!! This is unacceptable!! We all know that Lamu and Mombasa
counties and the major cities and towns in this country are more vulnerable
to attacks than any other areas. Why not start with improving police facilities,
equipment and remuneration in these areas before any other areas in our
country? Why make budget allocations that never benefit the intended
purpose? Why is the government not uptight in its priorities as far as governance
is concerned? Who advices the president on decision making? Don’t they see
and witness these things?
- Give
us the truth. Yes
this goes out to all those bosses in the security firms in this nation:
please give us the truth. When we are attacked, we need the truth, not
second-hand half-truths-and-half-lies!! Stop the speculations by giving us
the truth! In this internet age, we always have the truth. We only need
you to give it back to us. This is a fact. Make us common citizens trust
in you. Make us believe that you are the best leaders to hold those
positions you are in. You should stop making the president of this nation
and his government looking bad by giving us false information and half-truths.
You have been appointed to a task, please carry it out faithfully. Don’t
lie to us as you would lie to an animal. We have common sense, we see what
is happening, so please just give us the truth!!
- Stop
victimizing Muslims. People could give the best information
under the freedom of speech, but once they realize that this information
is going to be held against them because of their religious affiliation,
you may never get it from them. This is what is happening to our Muslim brothers
in this nation: they are being victimized for wrongs (I guess) they have
not committed. A basic police training rule says that, “You may never get genuine information
from a person you have already concluded to be a criminal…” Of all
Muslims in the world, I think Kenyan Muslims are the least radical. I am
of the opinion that whoever brings about the chaos in this nation is a
foreigner who comes in to radicalize our Muslim youth, and therefore
without these foreigners, not many Muslim youth will get entangled in violence
and murder. Is this so hard to understand and correct?
I
am praying for the affected, but we still need action from our government. We
need action to ensure safety to the citizens of this land!
I
close my case.
Bonface
Morris.
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