State to set up unit to protect critical infrastructure

NAIROBI: The Government will set up a powerful entity to protect critical infrastructure against threats such as terrorism, espionage and sabotage.

In a move aimed at dealing with increasing threats to critical infrastructure such as power lines, fibre optic, roads and data centres, the Government has proposed hefty fines and jail terms for up to 10 years for people caught sabotaging infrastructure that is critical to national security.

The proposals are contained in the Critical Infrastructure Protection Bill expected to be presented to Parliament later in the year after review by the Attorney General.

The bill is being fronted by the Energy, ICT, Housing, Water and  Transport ministries arguing the deployment, maintenance and protection of these critical infrastructure at the moment is done in an independent and uncoordinated manner leading to disruption of essential services and losses due to accidental damage.

“Most of these ICT services are implemented and managed by private sector players. There is need to consider having a whole inclusive approach in the planning, designing and implementation of the critical infrastructure so that ICT sub components become part of it,” the ICT Authority says in a statement.

It will establish a special unit to be known as the Critical Infrastructure Protection Unit, which shall have powers to get from any party any information on CCTV, building plans, maps for inclusion in the data register.

Some of the critical infrastructure identified in the electricity sector include power lines, substations, off-grid generation stations, repeater stations and data centres. The unit will also protect road furniture, streetlights, traffic lights, rails, roads and road corridors.

It comes at a time when the country is investing in big infrastructure projects among them the Sh327 billion Standard Gauge Railway. There are also huge investments in geothermal, road infrastructure, power lines and the port which is a critical gateway to the East African community.

The discovery of oil in Turkana is also set to create a security nightmare for the country given that most of the discoveries are being done in places that had been neglected for decades by previous regimes.

Kenya has also been exposed to terror attacks from Al Shabaab terror gang from neighbouring Somalia, which has hurt the economy.

The new bill has also identified fiber optic cables, submarine cables, telecommunication lines and posts as critical infrastructure in the ICT sector.

NATIONAL DATABASE

Security cameras, power units, hosting batteries, and routers, power box with Kenya Power meters and cutouts, high definition cameras, strobe lights on automatic number plate recognition poles are other critical infrastructure identified.

In the energy sector, oil pipelines, oil fields, Spur lines and flow lines, control rooms, petroleum Products Storage Tanks, Pump stations and auxiliary equipment, cathodic and radio networks have been identified as critical. “The unit will work with the office of the Inspector General to ensure that Critical Infrastructure Assets are afforded continued security surveillance and protection against threat or use of force, terrorism or terror other related Activities,” the Bill says.

Other threats identified include espionage, sabotage, cyber crime or crime targeted at information transmitted by means of Critical Infrastructure assets and vandalism.

The unit will also collect information from owners of Critical Infrastructure Assets for purposes of registration, record its location, and create a national database on important infrastructure.