DISMISSAL OF THE INSPECTOR GENERAL OF POLICE AND THE INTERNAL SECURITY CABINET SECRETARY IS NOT PANACEA TO NATIONAL INSECURITY

So much has been said about the state of insecurity in Kenya. The general public has been debating the situation since the election of the Jubilee Government in March 2013. Kenya came under a spate of perpetual insecurity ranging from terrorism, stripping of women, thuggery, robbery including carjacking of a presidential motorcade vehicle, arson, among many other matters insecurity. The citizenry has demanded the resignation of the security leadership to a deaf ear of the President. The Coalition for Reform and Democracy movement has been at the forefront in demanding action from a government that specializes in issuing unqualified warnings. After more that 500 Kenyans succumbing to acts of terror claimed over 500 civilians and over 300 security officers, the President announced changes in security system by replacing the Inspector General of Police and the Cabinet Secretary concerned. The Presidential decision has proven to be too little too late, coming after the opposition coalition had called for the resignation of the President himself. The President outraged Kenyans by blaming the citizens for not doing enough to curb insecurity. Suffice to mention that Kenyans have faithfully paid taxes that are used to fund security agencies. The President, in an unprecedented speech reacting to the killing of 28 non-Muslim passengers in a bus in the North-Eastern County of Mandera absolved himself and the state from the blame on the killings. A week later, 36 Kenyans were killed by a terror gang in the same county hours after two Kenyans lay dead in the same county. It was not surprising therefore, after piled up anger from Kenyans that the President finally relieved the two security officers. The act, though tough, does little to prove the seriousness of the President. It would therefore be logical for the People of Kenya under a political outfit to call for the resignation of the President on grounds of incompetence. The primary purpose of state is to assure its citizens of their security. Kenya is the strongest power in the East and Central African region, and such insecurity only serves to compromise the gains so far made by hardworking citizens to build their country. Failure by the state to assure security means the state officers involved, starting with the President himself, ought to resign. The Coalition for Reform and Democracy on their part should work harder to strengthen their internal structures and offer a challenge to the Jubilee Coalition. As matters stand, the Orange Democratic Movement is the face of the Coalition, dwarfing the Wiper Democratic Movement and the Forum for the Restoration of Democracy-Kenya. This means therefore that in case of an alternative, ODM is the outfit to watch under the leadership of Prime Minister Raila Odinga, Chairman John Mbadi and Secretary General Ababu Namwamba. The opposition, irrespective of the outfit, should come up with strategies in consultation with the civil society organisations. Kenya is sitting on a time bomb. Give credit where it is due. The Uhuru Kenyatta Government has opened up the Government and widened the democratic space through the myriad ICT-related initiatives. Infrastructural developments are evident and economic planning improved. However, economic growth is subservient to security needs of a citizenry. Kenyans were poorer under the Daniel Moi regime but felt more secure. Security may just be a state of mind, but this state is influenced by the omissions or commissions of the government. With the confusion in state apparatus charged with security, it is time that the people of Kenya must force the resignation of the Uhuru Kenyatta administration and their tyranny of numbers in both houses of Parliament. Kenyans should come out in large numbers demanding a fresh election, by hook or crook. I rest my case.