Page 10 - MANDERA-COUNTY- REVIEW-3RD-EDITION

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with the help of the military, and posted the police. I suggested to the county security team team. What emerged clearly was that no radios
KPR to guard it at night. During the day, the po- that since all the KPRs were locals and did not were available for use by any of the security
lice and APs took over. Later, the military joined fear guarding the private individuals at a fee, teams in Mandera town.
in providing security for the function and the we should make use of them in an organised
venue and we had a very successful ceremony manner. We agreed to take stock of all KPRs Three months later, both police and AP could
in a public arena for the first time in three years. and re-organise them to complement the po- not provide radios and the network remained
lice. erratic and unreliable in Kenya. I was left with
By default, I had to get involved in security no choice but to ask my security adviser to get
matters from the start of my county govern- To start with, we agreed to call all KPRs for a us a quotation for radios and to establish a ra-
ment because of the state of desperation that meeting at the county offices for a head count dio room similar to what the security compa-
could only have been saved by creating new and to re-register their details afresh. We de- nies use. We established a radio control room
hope. Next, I focused on making security work signed a form and registered them afresh and at the county offices and recruited competent
in consultation with the County Commissioner, I announced that no KPR would be allowed to radio controllers to man them. We purchased
who was very willing and ready to explore all provide private security to anyone henceforth and distributed radios to all the security forces
possible options to get out of the desperate and that with immediate effect, they would be in Mandera town and operationalised the ra-
state we were in as a county. reporting to the police every evening for task- dio room. What followed was unprecedented.
ing. We also offered a Sh10,000 monthly allow- Several terror attacks were foiled and for the
We embarked on a series of security meetings ance and an additional Sh5,000 for meals. In first time, active terror attacks were countered
with the security management team discussing return, they were all to report to the police sta- with many fatalities on the terrorists’ side. This
how we got into this desperate state of inse- tion at 5pm everyday for tasking. We also hired is something that had not been witnessed in
curity in Mandera town. We made a decision seven vehicles for them to carry out patrols day Mandera before.
to make use of the home guards to unlock and night. The head count realised 207 KPR of-
the fear in the security personnel. I asked the ficers in the greater Mandera East, which was a As we neutralised Al-Shabaab threats, they
OCPD and the DAPC how many officers were good number to complement the police. changed tact and started using Improvised
under their jurisdiction. I was disappointed to Explosive Devices to carry out attacks. What
learn how big the number of officers deployed That marked the beginning of night patrols, following was more than 10 IED attacks, five
was, compared to the actual number of those which resulted in improved security for six out of which targeted my convoy. But by the
who reported to their work stations. Majority consecutive months. Thereafter, the police ac- grace of Almighty Allah, we only suffered minor
were absent. cepted to join KPRs in carrying out patrols. The damage to the vehicles and minor injuries to
police got them uniforms and they were organ- my security personnel.
I was getting very concerned about the man- ised with ranks and given supervisors.
agement of KPR because as we were cam- As we improved the situation, terror groups
paigning in Mandera town, I noticed that the However, the celebration was short-lived be- were getting uneasy because they were used
KPR officers were there for hire by private in- cause the terror cells were studying the move- to having a field day. Locals started condemn-
dividuals at Sh1,000 per day and we had all ment patterns over the period. Shortly after six ing the Al-Shabaab in public, which was also
used them to guard us during that time. I could months of quietness in Mandera, a number of a very serious setback since their instrument
not help asking myself the entire time who was successful terror attacks took place. A serious of fear was no longer working. They regrouped
in charge of the KPRs. How are they tasked consultative forum had to be arranged to dis- and started targeting non-locals in a strategy
and supervised? How do they account for their cuss the changing trend. that was aimed at turning Kenyans against
guns and their use? And why should we have each other by inciting religious hatred and
KPRs if no one was in charge of them? Later, I The KPRs attributed the success of the terror strife. They were not smart to forget so soon
asked the OCPD how many KPR officers were attacks to poor communication network since that just months before, they were killing locals
available around Mandera East besides Arabia the network in Bullahawa was stronger than before their strategy was neutralised. One in-
ward. The OCPD could not readily provide an ours, leading to blockage of Safaricom and Air- cident involved the killing of 12 local security
answer, yet the KPRs were security officers of tel. We agreed that the county commander of officers.
the government employed and equipped to police and police should get VHF radios and
protect the public under the supervision of the establish a radio control room to facilitate alter- Before we tasked guards to take charge of
native means of communication for the security night patrols, the Administration Police camp

Work in progress at border securitisation wall in Border Point 1. The wsll is being constructed by Kenya Defence Forces.