Security Analyst Proposes a Change in Insecurity Approach

Following the demise of Chief of Defense Forces General Francis Omondi Ogolla, security analyst George Musamali argues that the government should change its approach when dealing with the insecurity menace in the North Rift.

“I think for a very long time we have been using the wrong medium to try and deal with the problem in the North Rift, because every other time we have an insecurity incident in that area, it has always been the deployment of troops in the area,” he said.

Speaking during the Day Break show on Citizen TV on April 19, 2024, the analyst perceived that the affected communities feared the deployment of military troops for excessive force apprehension.

He said that concerted efforts should be put towards bringing the community to the table because if the government always deploys a military operation, people run away.

“The government has always come up with operations. I remember in 1984, it got bad to an extent we had this infamous operation named Nyundo that was headed by Major General the late Nkaiseri and what happened is that we had so many issues coming up, abuse of human rights because excessive force was used on the people,” he said.

According to him, bringing development to the people could be a better approach. This would empower them.

“As much as we need the police on the ground, we also need another form of approach; winning the hearts and minds of the people. This can be done by empowering them socially and economically. That is the direction that the government is taking now and I am sure if we continue with that approach, we are going to see results,” he said.

Musamali also believes that the government is assessing the situation in the wrong manner. He said the government views the insecurity by focusing only on the bandits. Instead, he recommends that efforts be geared toward the community that wants peace.

“Efforts should be geared towards the community. Let us move the focus from the bandits to the community. The bandits are a small group of people. The majority of the people want peace and development,” he added.

Moreover, politics should be removed from the picture to avoid problems. He also added that the perpetrators of insecurity should be punished.

“We should remove politics from the picture so that we concentrate on what is hailing the area. When we play politics, there will be problems. It is not the first time we are seeing politicians being mentioned about North Rift. We must have punishment for the people instigating insecurity in the area. Without punishment, it will be business as usual,” he added.

Musamali believes that the insecurity menace would be a never-ending problem for the nation without the mentioned efforts.

“We have lost a gallant group of soldiers in Laikipia, 8 police officers including a commander. The list is long and we are not seeing an end to this,” he added.