After a decade of watching cool crime drama, action-packed movies, is it a wonder that now I have placed myself on the same playing field as 'security experts'. I was only a matter of time before the likes of yours truly weighed in with their ideas on major crimes. So, here goes nothing.
It is time we got ourselves a new tactical element in Kenya's war on major crimes, including drug-trafficking, terrorism and human-trafficking. It should be a small team, no more than 50 men. It should be divided into two: intel analysts and an operational detachment. The OpDet should be divided into 4-man teams with state-of-the-art tactical gear while the intel analysts get the latest in crypto-gear, high-end commo-gear and top-of-the-line brute-force computer equipment capable of running up-to-the minute scenarios with the data they'll be receiving.
The OpDet should have men aged between 18 and 35, with no family entanglements. They report directly to a Commanding Officer, who in turn reports to the President or his designated second (usually, the Minister for the time being in charge of security). They should be drawn primarily from the NSIS, Armed Forces and police CID or some other specialised police unit like the Anti-Terrorism Police Unit. They should have a free hand to call on resources held by elements of the security establishment without question. When they engage, it will either be to totally neutralise threats to the national integrity, but where possible to see that perpetrators are dragged before a magistrate. They should undergo a rigorous training regimen to ensure that they are on the cutting edge of tactics and weapons, and they should have no qualms about employing overwhelming force to subdue an adversary. In short, they should be the sword that the State wields in its war with enemies of the State. However, this element will not be deployed against your run-of-the-mill armed robber or kidnapper, save where national security is involved. They shall not be bound by the police standing orders or those of the military. In short, they should have free tactical hand when they 'go hot'. (This is the secret that many Kenyans will be willing to accept so long as they do not know about it).
The analysts, initially, should be drawn from existing intelligence units from the Police, the Armed Forces and the NSIS, but over time, should develop an independent intel capability. It should receive full co-operation from the intel community with real time linkages to their data-bases. In time, it should also be a training ground for all intel analysts in the country, head-hunting new recruits from the private sector, academia and existing police and military units. They should not be bound by privacy laws that may be enacted by the legislature and they should have a free hand to collect and collect intel from whatever sources. They should channel funds to state universities to develop intel, crypto and computing capabilities that they may require in the field.
Oversight should come from a secret committee of the legislature to ensure that the new element does not become a political football to be used against political opponents. In this regard, members of the oversight committee should be drawn from the top three political parties represented in the legislature and it will be their responsibility to ensure that funding from the Consolidated Fund is routed through whatever channels it deems effective and efficient.
The mandate of the new element will be to safeguard the national interest at all costs, ensuring that the Kenyan public is protected from the security threats that it knows nothing about. Initially it should concentrate on the threats posed by narco-traffickers, human-traffickers, terrorists, and organised crime. It should remain small, well-trained, highly-motivated, and completely, absolutely secret.
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