The police were an ever-present help during the recent Dusit terror attack. Many of them acted as heroes and went into the line of fire with nary a thought for their own lives but for those they were saving.
But as with all spheres of life, there will always be bad apples in every cart. I am reminded of a report released by the UN late in 2018 that indicates that the police might have helped the attackers get into the country in February last year.
The Somalia Report 2018 released in November 2018 by the U.N, colours a disturbing picture of cops at the border towns.
The report noted that police officers at the Kenya-Somalia border let in five Al-Shabaab suicide bombers in February last year after receiving bribes, some as low as 2000 shillings.
For instance, an investigation into a foiled attack in February last year revealed that Al-Shabaab operatives crossed the Kenya-Somalia border five times in three months, detected but unobstructed, by paying bribes to security forces.
An example the report used was the case of two known Al Shabaab operatives. The two, Abdimajit Hasan Adan and Mohammed Nanne Osman, the UN notes, had numerous journeys back and forth across the porous Kenya-Somalia border.
The report notes that:
WHERE ENCOUNTERS ARE MENTIONED, THEY ARE IN THE CONTEXT OF EITHER PAYING OR WITNESSING BRIBES TO SECURITY FORCES ON BOTH SIDES OF THE BORDER.
Another troubling story that emerged from the report concerned 5 Al Shabaab operatives who crossed into Somalia at El Wak, on February 4 without interference from police or border officials.
The report adds that the terrorists had an arms cache that included five Type 56-2 assault rifles, 36 magazines of ammunition, and 36 hand grenades.
The Type 56-2 is a Chinese variant of the Russian AK-47 assault rifle which was the weapon of choice by the Taliban in Afghanistan. The report reads:
THE PLOT PROVIDES AN APT ILLUSTRATION OF THE NEXUS BETWEEN CORRUPTION AND INSECURITY. POLICE STATEMENTS FROM THE ARRESTED AL-SHABAAB OPERATIVES SHOW THAT THEY WERE ABLE TO PASS WITH LITTLE INTERFERENCE BACK AND FORTH ACROSS THE POROUS KENYA-SOMALIA BORDER, FACILITATED BY BRIBES TO VARIOUS SECURITY FORCES OFFICIALS ON BOTH SIDES.
The report also tackled a problem that Kenya might still be facing?
SEVERAL KNOWN MEMBERS OF THE PLOT ESCAPED ARREST, AND THE ATTACKING TEAM — WHICH LIKELY COMPRISED FIVE INDIVIDUALS, ON THE BASIS OF THE NUMBER OF CAPTURED RIFLES — MAY STILL BE AT LARGE IN KENYA.
The report which was released in November last year delivered a grave summary:
AL-SHABAAB IS LIKELY GENERATING A SIGNIFICANT BUDGETARY SURPLUS; MONEY IS NOT A LIMITING FACTOR IN ITS ABILITY TO WAGE ITS INSURGENCY. HOW AL-SHABAAB CHANNELS EXCESS REVENUE REMAINS UNDER INVESTIGATION BY THE MONITORING GROUP.
The police refuted the report and their response is on their Facebook page:
Could the missing terrorists the report spoke about have had a part to play in the attack at Dusit?