Antiterrorism strategy: CCTV Cameras along Kenya Somali border

Kenya has come up with a very smart strategy to fight terrorism, and the strategy is to install CCTV Cameras along the 800Km long Kenya Somali border. The CCTV Cameras will help security personal see in real time the events taking place along the porous border. This is being pursued in the realization that Al Shabaab could be taking advantage of “panya” routes to enter the country unnoticed.

The border is a major security concern as the points of entry are far too many. We are working on a surveillance system to show what is happening in the entire borderline. We are also putting up a command and control system that provides CCTV surveillance for the cities and also the border,” Ole Lenku told Nima during an interview with CNN.

This indeed is a very smart move and I would encourage Ole Lenku to expand the security measures being taken at the Kenya-Somali border to include the country’s entire borders. A theory called the Entebbe theory suggests that Al Shabaab could have gone to Entebbe and used the Uganda-Kenya border to gain access to the country.

As much as the move to install CCTV Cameras along Kenya Somali border can be seen a smart move, it is important to state that the problem does not just lie at the borders. When Westgate was attacked, many Kenyans asked themselves how the terrorists could have transported their weaponry from Somali or elsewhere on Kenyan roads that are renowned for road blocks every 50 or so Kilometers. If each traffic or otherwise police officer did their work 24/7 year in year out then good leads that could have prevented the attack could have been obtained prior to the attack. One factor that made our police offers be outwitted by the terrorists is the issue of Integrity. The issue of integrity was raised by CNN to Ole Lenku and this is what he had to say:

People are noticing that there’s a new requirement for service in terms of integrity and that those who will not meet that threshold will not be allowed into their service,” “a number of corrupt officers will be removed from the system. The vetting exercise for police officers is being carried out because corruption has been a loophole and an avenue for insecurity.

Knowing our history and such promises, we can only but read such statements with a pinch of salt. One thing for sure is that there seem to be no good will from the government to truly implement the long desired police reforms. But let’s give them the benefit of the doubt. Hopefully there won’t be any major security incidence before the measures being taken are finalized.

If Ole Lenku is true to his words and he does all in his powers to implement the security measures of installing CCTV Cameras and other surveillance technologies not only along our borders but also in major towns across the country, that he will truly put in effort to eliminate corruption and other integrity issues, then we as a country are headed to a secure destination.

Good intentions Secretary Ole Lenku, please ensure expedient implementation.

Login

Welcome! Login in to your account

Remember me Lost your password?

Lost Password