Standard’s editorial on security is based on wrong premise
By Mwenda Njoka
The Standard
editorial headlined “It is time to debunk ‘Kenya is safe’ myth” published in the
February 3rd edition falls squarely in the category of one of those
commentaries though originally meant to illuminate end up generating much more
heat than light.
The writer opens his argument saying “Interior Cabinet Secretary Joseph Ole Lenku’s advice to Kenyans to
ignore warnings on social media might have sprung from genuine concern over possible
hoaxes that could strain police resources to fight crime…” Good, sound and
logical argument, up to that point.
The writer then veers off completely off target when he says
“In short, our security is a myth and we
must wake up to this fact or suffer unthinkable consequences…”
True, there are myriad hoaxes every day about impending
terror attacks. The country’s security agencies receive hundreds of such
‘tips’, which they investigate, interrogate and come up with one of the two
possible conclusions: one, that the ‘tip’ was not credible and is thus a
possible hoax or, two, that the tip is credible and requires further and swift
action.
If the country’s security agencies were to run to the public
or social media with ‘security alerts’ every time they received a tip about a
possible security breach, Kenyans would do nothing else with their lives apart
from ‘running for cover’ day in day out.
One of the strategies used most effectively by terrorists is
propaganda whereby citizens are made to feel persistently insecure and thus
incapable of engaging in their day to day activities. If we let them,
terrorists can achieve this ‘state of terror’ without firing a
single shot or exploding a single IED.
The editorial writer is inadvertently advocating for a
permanent ‘state of terror’ when he
writes “… is to begin debunking the myth
that the likes of Ole Lenku appear keen on propagating: that Kenya is safe and
we should not pay attention to the warning in social media…”
Both Interior Cabinet Secretary Joseph Ole Lenku and his
Principal Secretary Mutea Iringo are on record asking Kenyans to be vigilant
about their surroundings and neighborhoods in the understanding that security is a shared responsibility. The
Nyumba Kumi Initiative is based on
this concept.
As the drivers of the security sector, both the Cabinet
Secretary and the Principal Secretary have a duty to ensure that Kenyans are
not led into an unnecessary ‘state of
terror’ through irresponsible use of social media. That is the premise of
Ole Lenku’s advise to Kenyans to ignore ‘security alert’ hoaxes posted on
social media.
And when the editorial says “The Government must stop behaving like it is business as usual…”
the writer is missing the point. The Government in general— and Ministry of
Interior in particular— has never denied that the threat of terrorism is
something the world has to live with for the foreseeable future. That clearly
is not ‘behaving like it is business as
usual’, is it?
What we do every day as the Government arm responsible for
internal security is to be vigilant and forward-looking so as to thwart
possible terror attacks before they happen. This too is not ‘behaving like it is business as usual.’
Gallant officers working in our security agencies risk their
lives every day to make this country a more secure place for each and every one
of us. The least we can do is to give them the support they deserve.
