Will The Shoot Order Tame Insecurity in 2023 ?

By Isabella Maua

Could it be true that as our Christian brothers and sisters believe the second coming of their Saviour Jesus Christ is steadily and surely approaching?

One of the most assuring yet alarming and disturbing sign is the numerous killings being witnessed countrywide.

Suicides and gender based violence aside; there is this worrying trend of armed bandits that are tamed for a while and after some months the culprits emerge with a new and higher number of servicemen eliminated.

These bandits have been left to wander freely with security officers’ blood on their hands as they strategize on how to set higher records of scores on their next encounter.

The government has been and is still hoping that its quest to end this ravaging banditry will sooner than later bear fruits. Massive disarmament to the banditry – prone regions has been (for a lack of a better word) null and void!

So sad a state that the police officers who are deployed to tone down the spate of attacks only manage to fulfill the saying of the hunter becoming the hunted. With millions of tax payers’ money spent on fuel, food and ammunition for the servicemen, it couldn’t been any worse!

As we enter 2023 and bid a painful goodbye to 2022: the year that was, citizens are rather in a confused state regarding security in the country.

The most recent order from Interior CS Kithure Kindiki and Inspector General Japhet Koome for police officers to use their weapons has attracted positive and negative reactions in almost equal measure.

We enter 2023 looking forward to verdicts on the petitions that have been submitted to challenge amendments to the National Police Service Act regarding the circumstances under which officers can use their firearms.

The ball remains in the court of our able president Ruto and his administration to put to an end these reckless killings and protect both civilians as well as men and women in uniform who many a times lose their lives for the defense and protection of the nation.