Below is an open letter from one of the Kenya Forum’s esteemed journalists. In this letter, the writer urges president Uhuru Kenyatta to address the security concerns plaguing this country.

It was written in response to a number of factors. Most notable amongst them, the latest terror attack in which gunmen stormed Garissa College. Read more on that here: ‘Suspected Al-Shabaab gunmen storm Garissa University College‘

“Mr President,

The height of insecurity in the country is worrying and particularly the threat posed by terrorists. The latest incident that saw 147 lives of students at the Garissa University College lost following a ruthless attack by Al-shabaab militia last week shocked the nation. The audacity and the Mondus Operandi of the gunmen, who took the institution under siege for hours before our security forces responded, bared the glaring lapse in the security apparatus of our country considering that the attack came in the wake of numerous terror alerts that had been issued, particularly warning that the Al-Shabaab planned to attack a university in the country. Britain and Australia governments even went ahead to issue travel advisories, warning their citizens of imminent terror attacks in Kenya and actually some of the universities within went ahead and pinned alerts on their notice boards, warning students to stay vigilant. Our government on the other hand instead of beefing up security in response, chose to act defensive as usual  and you were even caught on camera issuing a reactionary utterance in criticism of the western government for the travel advisories, sadly even before your words could dry, we were once again caught flat footed, just as it happened with the Mpeketoni massacre and the Westgate siege. The aftermath is now the spate  of deaths of innocent civilians in situations that could have been at least controlled. Observant Kenyans will take note that the Al shabaab militia, who have continued to hit Kenya hard since KDF was deployed  in Somalia in 2011 is changing its tactics by day and each terror attack, is always a step ahead in magnitude compared to the last one. It first started with the hurling of grenades and the use of improvised explosive device (IED) in public busses, churches and crowded public areas and a few  lives would be lost  and then as time went by, the militia has escalated their assault to greater heights as witnessed in the latest terror incidents. At least 67 people died in Westgate, 48 in Mpeketoni and now 147 in the Garissa attack. Remember the militia’s continuous warning to victims; “tell your president this is only the beginning”. As witnessed with the Garissa university siege, where it was revealed that a former law student at the University of Nairobi had masterminded the attack, the Al Shabaab is endowed with sharp brilliant minds and we can be certain that their tactics can only get smarter. As witnessed in countries which have been under attacks by terrorist, we can be certain that more sieges in the most unexpected institutions are underway; suicide bombers will also be unleashed and not unless your government advances its tact as far as security and response to terror situations is concerned we are in for much more worse situations.

INSECURITY BAD FOR ECONOMY

 Insecurity is now the biggest challenge facing your government and it’s bad for our economy. Although Kenya has been listed as one of the fastest growing economies in Sub-Saharan Africa, the wave of insecurity continues to pose great challenges to our country’s economic progress as experts have warned. The latest attacks have seriously dented Kenya’s image abroad and badly affected the tourism sector which has been on a downward trend in the last one year. Official figures released indicate that tourist numbers reduced from 1.7 million in 2012 to 1.5 million in 2013.  In general the industry had declined by 15 per cent. Tembea Kenya is a good initiative but domestic tourism cannot sustain the industry, considering our huge cost of living which, does not allow us the luxury to “tembea” anywhere really save for commuting to work. Lastly, I still struggle to comprehend the logic behind the unremitting decision to keep KDF in Somalia even with the numerous terror attacks that have hit us ever since the onset of Operation Linda Nchi. The objective behind the operation was to secure our borders but our roof is falling, the operation has continued to put our rather peaceful nation in more danger and we no longer feel safe. Maybe it’s about time you considered bringing the troops back, not because we have chickened out, but because the situation begs, it’s now evident that due to corrupt policemen and officials from the immigration office, our attackers are fighting us from within. Citizens travelling by pubic vehicles for long distances over the weekend, following the Garissa attack cited being stopped on numerous occasions for security checks at designated police road blocks, where they had their ID’s checked. Well, some of us  know pretty well that getting an ID in Kenya for illegal immigrants is a piece of cake as long as one can part with sh 20,000, so much more needs to be done.

ETHIOPIA ,US TROOPS PULLED OUT OF SOMALIA

The Ethiopian army occupied Somali cities, including Mogadishu, in 2006, to find that Islamic Courts Union had melted into the local population and the countryside. Two years later the Ethiopians marched out ‘harassed and bruised’ and the Islamic Courts Union re-emerged as Al-Shabaab. In 2002 the US Marines landed on the beaches of Somalia in ‘Operation Restore Hope’. The intervention, however, did not restore hope; it resulted in two Black Hawk helicopters being shot down and a ‘bloody fiasco’ from the American point of view. Just over a year later the US troops also pulled out of Somalia. We therefore lose nothing by leaving Somalia; other nations have done it before. The main cause of the frightening insecurity and instability that continues to engulf Kenya is a deeply enshrined culture of corruption that has rendered institutions and systems incompetent.”

Winnie Kabintie, journalist and concerned citizen.