Miserable Police officers; Poor Security

I have watched it total dismay the happenings of the past year or so as far as security is concerned. I have looked at the surprised faces of the Kenyan people as they stared helplessly at the bloody loss of hundreds of lives - hundreds!!, for heaven's sake - of innocent people. Children have been orphaned, wives widowed, families rendered hopeless, and the nation left bleeding from the wounds of a harsh reality about our limitations.

The journalist has reported, the analyst has passed his opinion, the Kenyan 'Wanjiikus' have opened their mouths in wonder, and the hungry opportunistic politician has seen a beautiful ground on which to do his twist and quickly made good use of it as few others made a plunder of the dance. Amidst all this confusion, few, if any, gave suggestions for the solution to the security situation that triggered it, and in the rare occasion where anyone tried to offer a solution, I must add, it was ridiculously shallowly thought. In my opinion though, and I base my argument on what I have gathered from my numerous interactions with police officers mostly in the lower ranks, the main problem lies in depending on a police service that has been utterly neglected for far too long by all the previous governments. This government looks to follow the same direction.

This has happened in two ways; the police force is an acutely underequipped outfit and in my opinion an embarrassment of a security agency to any government that takes security seriously. It is also a danger to those who are 'unfortunate' enough to work there. Forget about the few thousand vehicles hired for them in the past several months. In a security environment and terrain like the one our police officers work in, and the concomitant challenges thereof require that they have, armored vehicles, fighter aircrafts, modern rifles (M16, M4, FN SCAR, HK416 etc...) enough modern binoculars, enough modern bullet proof vests, night vision equipment, modern surveillance systems and all other operational equipment necessary for effective service delivery. They can not continue using the 1940s G3 and AK47. Let the president hear me shouting at the top of my voice that the solution does not lie in the deployment of our warlike worriors of the Kenya Defense Forces, but lies squarely with equipping our more gentle, friendlier and more intelligent fighters of the police. It is the responsibility of the government to provide security and in this regard, a responsible government would spare no dime to secure its people.

Secondly, and this in my view seemed as though it was a greater impediment to security in my interactions, the police must be paid well. Who does not know that the Kenyan police officers are some of the most poverty stricken (save for the lucky ones who work in the so called "juicy" departments of the service and they are not many) members of the human race around this part of the world? The police business as they say, is a hell of a problem. It is a good deal like politics. It asks for the highest type of men and there is nothing in to attract the highest type of men. Ours  does not even have a way of triggering the best out of what we have. Their morale has hit rock bottom. They feel undervalued and underappreciated for what they do. In fact I am not surprised that there are rumors already doing rounds about some of them giving some helpful information to terrorist groups like Al Shabaab. What do you expect a hungry man to do when approached by a criminal who is offering him good cash in exchange for a piece information he is not paid to keep secret? Refuse the money and have his family go hungry and children drop out of school? You must be a big joker to think that way. I'm not trying to justify any rogue police officer who do that; but, let that be a discussion for another day.

The police were supposed to be given some 42% salary increment owed to them since 2010 for instance, where is it? Why are the salaries of the police far below those of the Kenya defense forces as if what they do is less riskier? I am told that president Uhuru Kenyatta while serving as the minister for finance said something in relation to the police officers earning more or the same as the army. They did not like what they allege he said then and they suspect he holds the same view now. Could they be sabotaging security? That is anyone's guess. Moreover, it's now rumored that senior officers from the rank of ASP and above were awarded a 100% salary hike in February which was reportedly backdated to October last year, leaving the juniors to continue wallowing in squalor.

In my regular interactions with my police friends, I came across one who made a statement that left me astonished at how lowly he regarded the job he does. His statement left a bad taste in the mouth. I have heard quite a number of them say they would not like to have any of their children work in the police service, but this one got me thinking. He said "I'd rather my daughter works in a whorehouse than my son in the police service." Imagine what his attitude is like towards his job. Are we really safe?

Personally, I have, many times, no matter how hard I try, failed to understand why the government finds it out of order to harmonize the pay of the police with that of the defense forces and NIS; Why the police don't get the same privileges and allowances as those of the army; why they can not be exempted from certain taxes as a measure of cushioning them against the harsh economic challenges. The nation has made the police feel utterly useless and less valued in the national security system and the inevitable consequence is that they are finally choosing to serve those who pay for what they give - including Al Shabaab. Compare their salaries for example, with that of the boys and girls from rich families at the National Intelligence Service (NIS) who are paid very well because they went to university and studied Veterinary, Botany, or even Applied Chemistry. In any case we know that there are university graduates in the police. You can clearly see why even in the rare occasions when the NIS may provide some intelligence, police would say,  "we're not your wheelbarrows."

If we give the police the pay they deserve and privileges and exemptions from tax, will there be dire economic consequences to the nation? I doubt. How much tax do they pay collectively anyway? After all a happy police service will provide a thriving business environment and the economic benefits with be invaluable to the nation in the long term and will compensate the exemptions from tax granted to this very important men and women.

The government must think creatively and look at the bigger picture and the long term advantages of giving value to the work of the police. There are no two ways about it your Excellency (i.e. if you ever read this) and if you wish to solve this problem of security, that's where you must begin. A police service that is silently sabotaging efforts to provide security is more dangerous than any terrorist group or any security agency picketing. Period.