Security lapses expose government's soft underbelly

Detectives after exhuming bodies from Shakahola forest in Kilifi county.  [File, Standard]

President William Ruto’s administration has recently been caught off guard by several incidents that have exposed its vulnerabilities.

Three months ago, the Gen Z protests shook the nation to its core and forced the president to stay confined at State House, Nairobi, for weeks as he dealt with multiple crises threatening his administration. For a time, the country came to a standstill as protesters took control of the major cities and towns.

In what was described as the most significant security breach since the failed 1982 military coup, the protests reached their peak with the storming of Parliament, which was desecrated, compelling the president to scrap the controversial Finance Bill and dismiss his Cabinet.

The protests, organised by young people mobilising on social media without a centralised leader, outsmarted the country’s security apparatus.

On June 26, Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua blamed the National Intelligence Service (NIS) for failing to inform the president in time about the scale of the protests, thus preventing the unprecedented loss of life and destruction.

“We have a dysfunctional National Intelligence Service that has exposed the President, the government, and the people of Kenya. If the NIS had briefed the President two months ago on how the public felt about the Finance Bill 2024, so many Kenyans would not have died. Property would not have been destroyed, offices would not have been wrecked. But they slept on the job,” Gachagua said.

Many viewed this as an admission of the government’s failure to anticipate challenges and address them before they escalated.

However, politicians from northern Kenya swiftly defended NIS Director-General Noordin Haji, calling Gachagua’s remarks reckless and inappropriate. Dadaab MP Farah Maalim and others pointed out that Gachagua could have raised the issue in the security committee, of which he is a member.

“The Deputy President’s decision to discuss sensitive officials, such as the Director General of the NIS, in the press instead of addressing his concerns through the National Security Committee, is both reckless and unfortunate,” read a statement issued by the leaders after a meeting.

Last week, a report by the Commission on Administrative Justice (CAJ) highlighted how government officials and police officers failed to investigate reports of illegal activities in Shakahola Forest, leading to the deaths of hundreds of people. This failure exposed the government’s inability to protect its citizens from cult-related activities.

The report detailed how multiple warnings were raised with local officials, including the area chief, the sub-county commissioner, and the local police station, but no action was taken. Those blamed included Chakama Chief Raymond Charo, former Langobaya Assistant County Commissioner Daniel Ntausi, and others.

The commission recommended that action be taken against six officers, with a report on their accountability to be submitted within six months. As of February, 429 bodies had been exhumed from shallow graves in the forest in Kilifi County, and it is suspected more bodies remain buried.

The Shakahola massacre is linked to cult leader Paul Makenzi, who allegedly convinced his followers to starve themselves to death in the belief they would meet Jesus.

“Investigations found that reports of Makenzi’s illegal activities were made at Langobaya Police Station, the Chief’s office in Chakama, and the Malindi Sub County Security Intelligence Committee between 2021 and 2023,” stated CAJ Chairperson Florence Kajuju.

Chief Charo was particularly implicated for witnessing the transfer of 500 acres of contentious land in Chakama Ranch without conducting due diligence.

As the dust settles on the Shakahola case, a new police report has emerged, detailing how locals in Meru County set fire to the East African Pentecostal Church of Kenya-Kianjai branch after its pastor, Daniel Mururu, was accused of sexually assaulting female congregants.

“The pastor allegedly ordered women and girls to strip naked, shave their pubic hair, suck their breasts, and engage in sexual acts in the church,” the report read in part. Among the victims is a 17-year-old girl who is now five months pregnant. Several women aged between 17 and 70 have also reported being assaulted.

President Ruto has also faced challenges. On August 11, during a visit to Gusii, he found himself embroiled in local political tensions over the location of a proposed university in Nyamira County. The president’s decision to announce that the university would be built in Kiabonyoru, despite local opposition, stirred controversy.

He said that his administration had set aside Sh500 million for the construction of the university after consulting with the area MP.

“Let us continue to build a university here at Kiabonyoru and that is in progress. We have decided that the project should come to Nyamira because you have enough land,” he said. In May, the president witnessed a clash between supporters of Governor Hillary Barchok and Senator Hillary Sigei during the inauguration of the Chemamul transformer project in Bomet County. 

A similar incident was witnessed in Meru on January 26 when the Meru governor was jeered by the youth as the President helplessly watched during his three-day tour in the region.

After the incident the President regretted the incident and  reprimanded the local leaders saying the power belonged to the people who will give a scorecard for each of them on whether they had delivered on their mandate.

Noise making

“I want the youth to listen. I don’t want this habit of making noise during the Presidential meeting. It is lack of manners, I want every leader to be accorded his respect, this habit should end today,” he said.

Governance experts believe these incidents highlight a lack of preparedness among security and government officials, as well as failures in intelligence gathering. Security expert James Kweyu noted that state operatives should have better briefed the president on the local political landscape before his visits.

“There is usually a team deployed to access the ground to understand the issues and brief the Head of State on what to say and what not to say depending on how emotive the issues are. These together with the whole security sector are to blame for the instances that the President found himself at the center of local politics and the local politics,” Kweyu noted.

Governance consultant Tom Mboya added that the Gen Z protests were unprecedented in scale and organisation, making it difficult for the government to respond effectively. The protests, led by ordinary citizens rather than political figures, represented a shift in Kenya’s political culture, leaving the government struggling to manage the situation.

“That in itself is a break from our political culture in terms of the fact that citizens have mobilized themselves on the basis of a single issue to protest at a scale that has never been seen in Kenya’s independent history. The organisation of these protests, there was no politician anywhere in sight in the organization of these protests. So this was purely citizen-driven and Gen-Z driven to be specific,” noted Mboya.

Mboya pointed out that the administration, confused by the lack of a clear leader to negotiate with, resorted to heavy-handed tactics, including the use of force and abductions, which only worsened the situation.

“This created a situation where the administration was confused and did not know what to handle the situation and eventually handled it in the only way they know, heavy-handedness, brute force and abductions,” he said.

Since then, Mboya observed, the government has faced a newly awakened and assertive citizenry, led by young Kenyans, who are not afraid to hold the government accountable.

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