Sunday, January 27, 2013

We cannot afford another round of poll chaos



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We cannot afford another round of poll chaos:

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That the forthcoming polls will be the most competitive this country has had is not in doubt, what with a six-tier leadership stratum to contemplate. The polls will also be important to Kenyans across the board as well as to the international community because the country is a crucial hub of commerce and international relations.
It therefore follows that the focus of attention will be squarely on Kenya and all efforts must be made to ensure that the elections are a success. If they are, they will act as a catapult to the journey towards enhanced democracy as espoused in the new Constitution and realisation of better life for the 40 million people who call this their motherland.
It is because of these and other factors that we laud the appointment of Grace Kaindi and Mr Samuel Arachi as two Deputy Inspectors General of the Kenya Police and that of Mr Ndegwa Muhoro as the Director of the Criminals Investigations Department. The appointment of the three top police officers to assist the Inspector General, David Kimaiyo, is a much needed boost to the efforts to police the citizenry as we head to the polls.
The period before the polls is particularly important because our election campaigns tend to be an extremely emotive and even explosive affair. Add to that the tensions that go with an ill-prepared electoral body and you have a virtual powder keg. It is supremely important, therefore, that our police force is well prepared to handle any eventuality.
Kenya’s civilian to police officer ratio stands at 160 cops to a population of 100,000 against a UN-recommended ratio of 220 per 100,000. How the country’s 70,000 police officers will cope with the 40,000 polling stations and the general security demands of the citizenry is something to occupy the minds of our security minders.
This is because during the last polls, violent protests erupted just as the results were trickling in and the police force was virtually overwhelmed, at least for a few days. It is worth mentioning that in some places, such as Nakuru, the situation took the intervention of the then Kenya Army to restore sanity. The IEBC has a staff of 29,000 but has recruited an extra 120,000 to help with the polling exercise.
While the police may not undertake a similar exercise, it still is worth pondering just how they will manage the situation. If violence breaks out again, will they ask the army to assist? Has that been contemplated? In short, are there contingency measures? We pose these questions, not to get answers but to proffer food for thought for those tasked with the mandate of maintaining law and order.
We cannot afford another round of violence. We lost too much, bore too much pain to even contemplate further agony and anguish. Our leaders must bow their heads in shame that five years after the last round of violence, we still have people living in IDP camps. That is the biggest, singular blemish on the otherwise sparkling legacy of the government that exits on the midnight of March 4.

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