Security docket in the spotlight The past two weeks stunned everyone, with the surprise terror onslaught on the Westgate mall and was then followed by national character assignation by terrified citizens. In three words, we all seem to agree corruption, ineptitude, and negligence are the reasons for the failure leading to the carnage at Westgate mall. Kenyans have shown their compassionate side uniting in the face adversity but swiftly, they reverted to old ways, speculating and peddling rumours in reviewing the evil scheme implemented by a gang of terrorist on that fateful weekend. It was not a big deal for some to usurp the work of investigators. And others felt it was time to self-proclaim as military strategist. They attempted to demystify the delicate nature of counter terror operations. And the grand finale for the madness apparently was the odd report, allegations of looting pointing fingers at the members of the security team which the Inspector General of police Mwole Kimaiyo, fondly refers to as “multi agencies”. I think our collective focus should recalibrate to understand implication of Westgate rather than emphasis on the fallout, in the wake of the terrorist attack. And how come no one is yet to point out the symbolism of the D-Day for this attack for these terrorist? Come on, the eve of September the 21st is a reincarnation of September the 11th and we were caught napping!! Terrorist are able to infiltrate our cities not for our ability to stop them but because of our disjointed national security plan. After dozens of security breaches and grenade attacks leading to death of citizens in the churches, and market centers, the government should have addressed to seal all the gaps that compromise our national security. Counter terrorism effort is an elaborate framework of security coordination. It involves monitoring of peoples movement, surveillance, information sharing, and strict adherence and enforcement of laws designed to prevent infiltration and security breaches. It’s an elaborate system that calls for unified control at the strategic levels. And it is this complexity that led the US government enacts a raft of far reaching anti-terror legislation including the establishment of a central body, the homeland security to coordinate and oversee the activities of all state actors and other players in the war on terror. That said, I will now address the basics or else, we shall be the laughing stalk, god forbid when again at the receiving end. In an emergency situation, the model of incident command designates the first person at the emergency to retain the overall command until the operation command establishes in its fullness, and is ready to take over command. This concept is the same as the combat unit that must maintain enemy contact once established, as the operation framework evolves until the battle is eventually decided. Kenya defence forces are mandated by the constitution to aid civil authorities in executing internal security operations when called upon. Yet classifying counter terror operation such as the Westgate as an internal security operation is missing the point. Nevertheless, military intervention in a joint operation is based on a clear doctrine that defines the chain of command and responsibilities in such a situation. To this end, the reports of misunderstanding between different security agencies involved in the Westgate operations points to a bigger problem of inefficiency and poor standards of training that affects professionalism of our law enforcement agencies. Otherwise, the keywords on the task table for agencies responding to siege starts and ends with, cordon, search, rescue, assault, and arrest. If everyone did their part, we would remain united in fortifying our defences against the enemy than pointing fingers at ourselves.
Posted on: Sat, 05 Oct 2013 00:41:43 +0000
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