Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Letter To The President
Letter To The President
Letter To The President
PRESIDENT
16. Create a public portal that allows anonymous reporting of crime and
monitor public funds/development through social audits.
17. Take criticism from the opposition, civil society and citizens more
positively. Their recommendations are from people who deeply care about
this country and want to see it thrive for themselves and future
generations.
18. Entrench a culture of public participation in the countrys legislative
agenda such as Budget-making process.
19. As a long-term strategy to enhance national security, the Government
should beef up intelligence collection from the lowest levels of public
administration by ensuring that chiefs and their assistants are mandated
to handle security issues, and that they are given the necessary tools to
do so.
20. To stump out cattle rustling, which has been fanning insecurity in
North Eastern Province, all cattle should have tracking chips that can be
used to verify ownership and trace the animals when they are stolen.
21. Make public and implement the findings of the Truth Justice and
Reconciliation Commission report. It defeats logic to commission reports if
they are never made public or acted upon.
22. Implement the Akiwumi Report in full. Hailed as one of the best
reports to emerge in modern Kenya, it lays on the line what need be done
to address recurrent ethnic strife across Kenya.
23. Build barracks along the border between Kenya and Somalia and
Ethiopia instead of the wall that has been initiated.
24. Initiate national dialogue on salient issues affecting the citizens, from
graft to insecurity.
25. Just as the President was unequivocal during My dress, My Choice
campaign, the Government should be unequivocal that acts of violence
and aggression on fellow citizens simply because one doesn't agree with
anothers lifestyle choices and constitutionally guaranteed freedoms shall
not be tolerated and such breaches faced with the full force of the law.
26. End the disdain towards the Press Estate, for all functional
democracies embrace journalism as a credible measure of democracy.
27. Increase the number of specialised forces within the police force such
as the Recce squads to deal with security emergencies but also to
enhance general security.
28. Use technology to fight crime. In this connection, the forensic
laboratory whose money was swindled in Anglo Leasing scam should be
revived.
29. Negotiate within UNISOM to redeploy the Kenyan military contingent
in Somalia to Sector Two. Right now the constant attacks from that
sector shows that the Ethiopians who are deployed there are not keen to
protect the Kenya border. We should consider increasing the deployment
to protect Mandera-Liboi sector, inclusive of the wall being built.
30. Work with religious leaders to end Islamophobia. Research has shown
that no child below 12 years is being recruited into Al-Shabaab and hence
targeting madrassas as suggested by some leaders will only enhance
alienation of the Muslim population and swell the ranks of recruiters to AlShabaab.
31. At same time work with local leaders in North Eastern Province to
create a new narrative of prosperity and inclusion, instead of the current
one of marginalisation and poverty that fuels resentment and anger. This
can be improved by improving the political process and citizen
participation in the affairs of the counties.
32. Revise the strategy of registration of illegal firearms by herders in
northern Kenya. Alternately, adopt the Lodwar Declaration of 2014 by the
six dioceses in the region to forcefully disarm everybody while
simultaneously boosting border security. Uganda has done it in Karamoja
and Kenya should do it while insisting that Ethiopia conducts similar
disarmament. South Sudan border could be a problem but Kenya can beef
up the camp in Kibich that was built two years ago and its still
unmanned.
33. Introduce specialised trained unit in the National Youth service
responsible for securing our infrastructure including centres of higher
learning round the clock, all year.
34. Use drones combined with a border patrol unit to collect intelligence
and act independently on threats. It will be best to include indigenous
population to take charge of securing the border. That way, they will feel
they have a stake in the process.
35. Cognisant that terror camps are within our borders, target well known
havens for terrorists and their local sympathisers. Start by flushing them
out of Boni and Witu forests.
36. Stop extra-judicial killings of suspected terrorists but reform the
justice system to effectively investigate and prosecute crimes. The
requirement to prosecute terror suspects within 24 hours of their arrest,
for instance, is untenable.
37. Democratise rather than militarise Kenya. This means creating space
for citizens to participate in securing our borders through time-tested
dispute resolution mechanisms, reconciliation, etc., rather than enhancing
state-centric responses that can only lead to militarisation of politics.
38. Operationalise intergovernmental structures. They exist in law and
would improve coordination especially on security matters.
39. Improve disaster response and management in light of growing
threats.
40. Clean up corruption at immigration.
41. Implement Ndungu Report on public lands and the nations neverending land crisis shall, by and large, be solved.
42. Urgently look into the welfare of Kenya Police and other uniformed
forces. If the salaries for magistrates and judges were reviewed in order
to reduce corruption levels, then why not improve the salaries of those in
the first line of defence in prosecuting criminals?
43. To entrench our democracy, empower the media and encourage
investment in the sector by making Government advertisement available
to forums with requisite circulation, not political patronage.
44. Safeguard media freedoms through a repeal of draconian laws that
have been enacted under the guise of fighting terrorism.
47. That the wide area camera surveillance system of the integrated
security system being put up under the GoK-Safaricom partnership be
democratized to encourage citizens and technocrats participation.