THE TERRORISED POLICE AND THE COMFORTABLE PUBLIC

Acts of terrorism, either against civilians or the uniformed forces are a plus for the terror groups. In the previous times, the civilians were the main targets. The Westgate attacks, Garissa University and many others were mainly targeted on the public. The police officers were also targeted but minimally. The target of this piece is not mere comparison of the scale of the attacks but rather the public response to each of them.

Simple review of social media platforms like twitter, gives a very negative public response to attacks on police stations. News of such attacks cannot trend on such platforms and in the event they are shared replies and comments are few, with some being unsupportive of the police force. This dynamic, considering the role social media plays today could be the tip of an iceberg. What exactly makes the citizens irresponsive? Why have the attacks on the police stations increased?  

Institutions can be rated upon their performance in service delivery to the public. This article does not expend on detailing how the police service has failed to meet the expectation but basically holds the guess that, while the existence of the same body is under threat from a foreign terror group the Kenyan public has withdrawn the necessary moral support.

The brutality of the Kenyan police has been in its highest mark in recent years. The institution received a fair share of condemnation from several quarters including the diplomatic community. The effect of this action is reduced confidence by the public. These acts were never prosecuted and duly addressed. Some still happen and without proper measures to prevent, many more might happen. Justice therefore has been served a notice of unworthiness.

Compromised confidence, mistrust and partial patriotism among the public could be well read by the Al Shabaab. The role of the public is very critical in national security activities like intelligence gathering, countering and prevention of violent extremism. Attacks on police stations that occur without substantial information could be pointers to a comfortably silent population. This could be the gap that will work for the terrorists. In the past, members of the public prevented an attack on their colleagues of a different religion from being killed by the terrorists in a bus attack. Did it ring a bell to the militants? Probably.

The government needs to learn of the unfolding events and act on extrajudicial killings, cultivate a better public-police relationship and address previous injustices. This will deny the Al Shabaab isolated targets and attacks that literally go unnoticed by the great stakeholder in the national security table, the Mwananchi.