The killing of peace ambassador Mary Kanyaman and chief Gilbert Lomukuny of Napeitom could have been averted.
The death of police officers, and a chief among others, at the hands of raiders in Turkana East is a sad moment for the nation. However, the occurrence of such heinous attack against security forces is not a surprise. Bandits have since time immemorial dominated this area of rugged hilly terrain for lack of adequate infrastructure required for effective governance.
Impunity, therefore, reigns in this region on account of limitations for enforcement of law and order. Area residents are constantly at war with each other and rarely at peace. Their borne of contention is mainly territorial dispute. Ethnic rivalry of subjugation, where both parties strive to deprive the other of their livestock wealth is another vector of their conflict.
The incessant conflict is asymmetrically prosecuted with shifting venues. Worse, insidious ethnic politics and availability of illicit arms merge to produce a deadly powder keg.
National security management institutions have fallen short, to firmly deal with not only the notorious bandits — those who kill at will — but also failed to resolve and find durable solutions to communal violence in many other parts of the country such as Marsabit, where violence has persisted for a long time.
Curbing these threats demands a deeper understanding of attendant issues regarding security factors and risks in these environments. We are very poor in security risk management. In spite of all available data, we have repeatedly failed in matching preventive and mitigation measures against risks in this environment and responding with knee-jerk reaction when faced with real challenges.
The Pokot and Turkana, for example, have continually shown willingness and capacity to use violence as means to resolve differences, even when government intervention and engagement to pacify conflict in their area is in effect.
The sheer lack of respect for security forces obtains from a demonstrated inability to counter strike and arrest bandits when they commit crime. Bandits are hence emboldened when they go scot-free after carrying out wanton killings like the one in Turkana East.
The rule of thumb to prevent violence is to serve violence in equal measure. Internal Security forces must respond with effective contingency plans to deal with these criminals. Challenges of time and space which accords bandits advantage has to be addressed, in order to re-establish inhibiting context by influence of potent government control.
We have to be more proactive and innovative in synchronising response plans to deal with banditry and all internal security challenges — armed conflict, terrorism, civil unrest and crimes. In this contemporary era, with readily available advanced aerial surveillance, target acquisition and communication capabilities, there is absolutely no excuse for bandits to kill police officers and disappear into oblivion.
There used to be a unit of National Police Service called Anti-Stock Theft Unit, which rode on horse backs and was mandated to deal with cattle theft. That is a good example of an establishment that should be folded and replaced with a new organisation fit for purpose to deal properly with gangsters roaming expanse of territory North and South of Kapenguria’s Chemolingot.
Security is a byproduct of appreciation, identification, decision and implementation. Bring foresight and decisiveness into this sector. There is need for a fresh reawakening in order to start hitting the bull’s eye.
Mohamed Wato, Major (Rtd), Kenya Defence Forces
