LONG TERM SOLUTION KEY TO CURBING INSECURITY

Tit- for- tat should not be looked at as the solution to our insecurity malaise.

In the wake of Garissa attack, a lot was said.Following the Mandera quarry attack, yet more was said.Before that, a lot was said following the Lamu attacks and long before that, the Westgate attack drew scathing and tough utterances.Beneath these harsh words were what seemed like assuring statements but barely assuring.

The Westgate attack was heartbreaking for lack of a better word.Never had our vulnerability and mortality been put to perspective in such brutality and cold savagery.We were exposed as a soft spot.It would never happen again, we promised ourselves and the government assured us of the death of the attackers.The Mandera bus attack brought the statement from our Deputy President that 100 Al-Shabaab militants have been killed in retaliatory attacks.After Lamu, several suspects were rounded up only to be released later.Following the Garissa attacks, we were informed of KDF bombing two Al-Shabaab bases.This should be reassuring, but is it? Should it be that we are only reactive, acting tough only after being hit? Are we supposed to feel safe when 100 al-shabaab militants are killed soon after four or five of their own lay to waste our own?

We should react first more so after issuance of travel advisories.As it has come to be, travel advisories have preceeded the recent major attacks, acting as a presage yet we choose to ignore them.Instead of dismissing these advisories  we should consider them a warning.One was issued before Garissa attacks, another during the series of Lamu attacks.That's no fluke.Sure some foreign embassies tend to overreact but we ought to take this as a warning sign, the dark clouds before our storm.Our knee-jerk reaction to terror only works against us.

Our reaction to such emergencies too is at fault.It is not reassuring that in the Garissa University attacks, some of the victims were killed as late as noon in an attack that started at dawn.And our security officers were even yet to make any foray as late as 2 pm.Fatalities will always happen in any attack but our reaction soon after receiving the news is paramount to preventing a bloodbath of the scale of Garissa, Westgate or Lamu attacks.To reach triple digits in a single attack of sporadic shooting is a travesty of our security.

However it is reassuring that we are striving to curb this menace from its roots- radicalisation and it is important that teachers of Muslim religious classes and Muslim leaders in general do more than just tell us that Muslim religion does not condone violence following an attack.It is important that whatever is taught in madrassas is monitored as the Garissa attack mastermind Mohamed Mohamud was a teacher of these classes. Many more are hidden amongst us and we should name them no matter the affiliation.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

WHY DO WE CHEAT IN RELATIONSHIPS?

Image
So goes the million dollar question. But is the question as complex as we make it or is it so easy to answer that we would rather not admit it? With the rise in HIV infections in marriages, most of us have really found a legitimate ground to question the sanity of marriage. With more people in the life-long commitment getting into the mpango wa kando (clandestine relationships) phenomenon, it seems as though getting married now acts as a front to hide the cesspit of sexual decadence many would wish to keep secret. But why? Why would we commit to someone only to turn on them faster than Flash on a free ride down a slope? How bad could they have gotten since the first time we saw them? 'Relationship experts' have tried answering the question so many times but it seems they too perhaps think too much. For anyone who has ever been in a relationship, one can attest that when caught eating from the wrong plate, there is no shortage of a myriad of reasons. My spouse didn't do th...
Read more

A LETTER TO MY DEAR GOVERNMENT

DEAR GOVERNMENT, It hasn't escaped my attention that a lot of make-up work is going on on our roads (a good thing),neither has it escaped my attention that said make-up takes place in the rush hour of the morning (a very bad thing). And, to add to my list of 'not-escaping-attention stuff', is the fact that these repair works are coinciding with the hyped second coming of Big bro Barry(honestly, I don't know what to make of that). Now, dear government, there is nothing as refreshing and relieving as seeing that huge crater that once swallowed a Vitz getting kicked on its deep ball by some good repair work. However, I pose - does it have to be in the morning?  I believe most road construction take place in the night, or, you know at a less busy time of day (so basically night). Sure I know you want us to see the good job being done, but guess what? We don't want to see it being done. We just want to be like,"Hey the roads are less jumpy today. I wonder whats w...
Read more

THE COLLOSUS HAS FALLEN

The sun is scarred, The moon injured, And in the dead of night, The collosus has fallen. Grief knows no bounds, Sorrow and melancholy abound, As dreams morph to nightmares, The collosus has fallen. Woods a shade of death, Black promises thus evil uncouth, And when life shifts to grey from mirth, The collosus has fallen. Broken glass,dull brass, Soiled trophies,ugly hats, White skin,pale shadows, The collosus has fallen. Eyes that see in darkness, Darkness guides the eyes, Light submits to the blank stare, The collosus has fallen. Illness and health, Penury and wealth, The shade and the light, Like days of night, Of shadows and their masters, The dry lands and deep blue seas, The earth and the sky, Frowned upon by the moon and the sun, The collosus has fallen. Fat wallets,empty pockets, Misery and its contrasting equivalent, Of the mysteries of life, And the joy of belief, A lack of faith, And fulfillment of achievement, The making of a legacy, The co...
Read more