NIS staff among security officers moved

The National Intelligence Service officers are among security personnel transferred across the Coast region in a security shake-up that also affected police bosses, the Star can reveal.

A wave of violence in Kisauni, Nyali and Likoni coupled with poorly coordinated war on narcotics prompted the reshuffle of security bosses.

Up to 300 spies have been moved outside the region while some of them have been sent for further training on narcotics control. 

Scores of NIS officers have also been embedded at the Directorate of Criminal Investigations for specialised training.

The training with the DCI officers is expected to give their NIS counterparts relevant skills and knowledge on drug trafficking.

The Star has established that some of the NIS officers are currently undergoing intensive training at the DCI headquarters, Kiambu Road, where the government's special laboratories are located.

A senior police officer aware of the developments told the Star that the NIS officers were brought because were inexperienced in detecting illicit drugs yet work in an area rife in narcotics.

The undercover spies are considered critical in sustaining a successful war on illicit drugs because of their wide network in collecting intelligence for the State.

"There has been a disconnect in the detection of various forms of drugs especially at the Coast with the various formations doing uncoordinated work when they are supposed to complement one another," the officer told the Star in confidence.

The overhaul of security chiefs at the Coastal counties was ordered by Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang'i after launching a vicious crackdown on drug lords this month.

The CS who has moved his nerve centre to Mombasa to personally oversee the anti-narcotics operations has declared his intention to wipe out the drug menace the is destroying young lives at the Coast region.

In the reshuffle by Inspector General of Police Hillary Mutyambai, Coast regional police commander Marcus Ochola was among those affected after he was moved to Rift Valley.

Ochola who had been in Coast region for less than a year was replaced by Rashid Yakub from Western.

Last week, police officers raided businessman Ali Punjani’s home in Nyali but he was reported to be undergoing treatment abroad.

Karki Sushmita, the Nepalese wife of Punjani, Bashyal Shiva Prasad, Ram Manoj and two of their workers Lucy Njeri Njane and Bonface Maelo were arrested but were later freed.

In the same week, the police arrested Bofu MCA Ahmed Salama and 17 other people linked to the narcotics trade, which occasioned militia attacks in Nyali and Kisauni.

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