Helicopter Crash: Why the Security Apparatus Should be Worried

The appointment of a team to probe into the helicopter crash that killed six people, including two ministers, is welcome.

To begin with the helicopter crash should jolt the security apparatus into soul searching.

With the country having featured as a major drug global transit point, there may be possibility of a bigger problem of infiltration by Mexican style drug lords keen on slowly imprinting their foot prints on the docile, if vulnerable, Kenya security system.

Consider the recent string of terrorist attacks in the country. All of them have been greeted by a police force that appears clueless, outwitted and in deep slumber.

The ‘seemingly’ low profile terrorists have managed to keep the security detail on the defensive all the time.

It could be more than meets the eye, considering that this is not a new phenomenon. In 2004 the storage and destruction of the Sh6 billion worth of cocaine was greeted with the presence of mercenaries in Kenya.

Reports that have been widely circulated by mainstream media indicate possible infiltration of the security apparatus by people who were later identified as possible drug operatives using fake identification documents.

The characters, who came to be referred by many as mercenaries, had managed to dupe the highest security operatives in to hiring them as commissioners of police. High ranking titles by no mean feat.

To the public they, the said mercenaries, passed off as investors with lots of money to deliver the country from her economic woes. They wore shiny metals on their necks and had a swag that sent teenagers into frenzy.

By the time the government came by, the damage had already been done. How deep the infiltration had been is remains unclear.

The grapevine has been rife that their real mission was to salvage the six billion shilling worth of drugs from destruction. Whether they did it or not is a different matter altogether.

It is, however, not lost that a number of tragedies that have happened before have been shrouded with intrigues that have left many wondering on their authenticity.

In the 1990s, for example, the death of the then minister of foreign affairs death was followed by mysterious deaths and disappearances of potential witnesses.

The fact that the police always appear a step behind major security threats could be a pointer to a deeper problem within the security detail.

Already Kenyans have expressed their reservations with the performance of the police, from traffic cops to the criminal system something has not been right.

One thing is clear: it is very much possible to buy the entire police system. With drug monies, this is even easier.

An accident involving a brand new police helicopter, with ministers in charge of security aboard could be a major statement to the right people: cooperate or else…