Matiang’i Orders More Security Checks for Easter Holidays

NAIROBI, Kenya, Apr 15- Security across the country has been heightened ahead of the Easter holiday celebrations.

Interior Cabinet Secretary Dr. Fred Matiang’i said Police officers have been strategically deployed and thorough screening ordered in airports, SGR stations, places of worship, and other crowded places across the country.

“We have deployed increased resources, especially during this month of Ramadhan and during this Easter weekend; we are going to remain in that state of alert into the foreseeable future,” he said.

The country has experienced some of the worst terror attacks around the Easter season including the Garissa University attack on April 2, 2015, that claimed 148 lives.

The CS said the extra vigilance measures were a necessity that was likely to be inconveniencing to commuters and worshippers and urged for compliance and cooperation.

He said, “You may be inconvenienced at the airports, the SGR stations, and at our ports of entry and exit because we will be a bit strict in our security checks and screening. It’s all because we want to make sure that you are safe and secure.”

He appealed for more vigilance and caution among citizens, especially in crowded places saying personal and collective responsibility was critical in neutralizing terror threats.

Information-sharing, international cooperation at border security checks, and involvement in the Nyumba Kumi initiative will also be stepped up according to the CS.

He was speaking at the General Motors East Africa during the flagging off of 170 Isuzu DMax double-cab pickups for use by Deputy County Commissioners across the country.

The vehicles were acquired through the government’s motor vehicle leasing programme, which is part of security reforms aimed at enhancing the sector’s operational and logistical capacity.

The CS said every county will receive at least four Isuzu D-Max pickup trucks to improve mobility of government administrators and ease of service delivery.

“Under this programme, every county commissioner has a brand-new vehicle, and we have allocated each one of them two additional vehicles to deploy their Assistant County Commissioners when necessary. So, there will be no excuse why we cannot go to wananchi wherever they are and meet them and provide services to them.

The vehicles will also come in handy in boosting the coordination of security and peace building activities around the General Election.

They will also be deployed in the combat of the recently declared security threats of a resurgence in HIV infections, Gender-Based Violence and teenage pregnancies.

Under the leasing program, General Motors (Isuzu) will avail 345 pickups to the Ministry of Interior.

So far it has delivered 131 vehicles comprising 80 station wagons and several pickups and buses.

GM Managing Director Rita Kavashe said the government’s insistence on 100% locally assembled vehicles for the lease program had created at least 120 jobs in the firm.

The company has also partnered with the Meru Institute of Technology for tailored engineering and fabricating courses and launched an advanced scholarship program for its staff to support more local assembling of its franchise