The Somali youths at the forefront of running battles with
police seem determined to escalate the violence and insecurity in Mombasa to
the kind of levels they are used to back home in Mogadishu. Muta-do?
Yesterday
police commissioner Mathew Iteere lost his cool when he was put on the spot
over the security situation in the country. In my view he had every right to
lose his temper because the police are NOT to blame for what is going on and if
you understand the way Kenya works you will agree with what I am saying.
My late
dad used to complain (until I got sick of hearing it) about how the government
had lowered the standards of the police force they inherited from their former
colonial masters and continued to do so on a daily basis for political reasons
not realizing that the “snake” they were rearing and feeding would one day turn
against them and bite so hard that they would never recover. Okay my dad was
not that eloquent in portraying his ideas but that was the gist of what he used
to say over and over again during his retirement. He would finish off by
emphasizing that standards would take years to build but could be destroyed in
a flash.
The
problem with our police force started when a deliberate effort was made to
ensure that the top brass was always “politically correct.” That necessitated
favoring the home boys for the top positions and shunning others who came from
the wrong part of the country. If you investigate the history of the force
properly you will quickly discover that the first commissioner should have been
a man who was brushed aside simply because he hailed from Luo Nyanza.
Later
on it became purely commercial in the police where the corrupt were quickly
promoted to the top while those who blocked the high and mighty from doing
their deals and refused to be bribed were forced out of the police force. I
actually witnessed a senior police officer who stole cash raised by his juniors
get promoted to police commissioner at the expense of other better qualified
and principled policemen who refused to accept bribes let alone “steal.”. What
would you expect from a force run by such a man?
Over
the years the police force was reduced to a private army of the political
elite. And so if you were a criminal who happened to be from the ruling tribe
and close to State house no policeman would dare dream of arresting you, even
if they caught you red handed. Everything had to wait for orders “from above.”
Now
let’s get relevant to what is happening in Mombasa. When illegal immigrants
started crossing over to Kenya from Somalia in the 1980s the Moi government did
not see this as a security risk. They yawned and went to sleep. Security organs
who were very aware of what was happening did nothing because they were waiting
for orders from above that never came. This security problem that the
government ignored spilled over to the United Kingdom where prior to the late
80s Kenyans did not need a visa to travel to the UK. Everything changed when
Heathrow started being choked by Somalis with Kenyan passports arriving but
hardly leaving. Most of these Somalis were illegal immigrants to Kenya who had
easily obtained national identity cards and then Kenyan passports.
Today
Somali immigrants are so many in Kenya that they have the kind of numbers that
can easily tilt a closely fought presidential elections.
Impeccable
sources from Mombasa have confirmed that these “foreigners” are the ones
causing chaos in Mombasa. Mombasa youths have always been outspoken in many
ways but they have never been radicalized and cannot stand violence. The kind
of youths throwing grenades at the police in Kenya’s coastal city are battle
hardened and you can guess where they got all their experience from.
Word on
the street is that the assassinated Sheikh was murdered by his own people and
judging from the well co-ordinated chaos that have followed in such an
intricately choreographed manner that is becoming increasingly believable. The
Somali youths at the forefront of running battles with police seem determined
to escalate the violence and insecurity in Mombasa to the kind of levels that
they are used to back home in Mogadishu. Mta-do?
Folks
we are paying the price of decades of laxity in security where the idiots
making the decisions spend most of their time barking orders like “kwenda
rokoto hio mtu” (go and pick up so and so). And many times this order was
given for the flimsiest of reasons like you delaying to pay somebody’s debt of
a few hundred Kenya shillings.
And so
while the cops were collecting petty debts for individuals and serving only the
interests of the elite, security went to the dogs where it is now
irretrievable. Yes, it is not Iteere’s fault is it? I would direct most of my
security questions at one Daniel Toroitich arap Moi.
This
evening the uneasy but optimistic calm that had settled into Mombasa was
shattered when a grenade was hurled into a police car seriously injuring at
least 7 police officers. There were unconfirmed reports of deaths from the
incident that took place very close to the Mombasa Pentecostal Church.
It is now clear that there are some elements within the town who are very
determined to ensure that peace is not restored in the coastal city any time
soon. Attacks of this magnitude against police officers during riots and
demonstrations are very rare in the country and yet this is the second such
incident in the last 3 days or so.
chris kyalo
Thursday, 30/08/2012
- G
Kon seems frustrated in his bid to be famous and a star in Kenya. The rapper
who has severally revealed that he is star-struck overChokoza’s Avril has decided to venture in a
different field.
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