The NIS, the country's only agency mandated to gather and analyze
intelligence, has come under heavy criticism for allegedly failing to
prevent last month's attack on the Westgate shopping mall in Nairobi.
On September 27th, the NIS hit back, releasing an intelligence brief
to the press detailing how it had warned relevant authorities, including
Kenyan police, of impending terrorism attacks at Westgate and other
public places.
It is this alleged inaction by police that has prompted calls to
empower the NIS with the authority to take direct action on its own
intelligence rather than depend on the collaboration of another security
agency.
"The way NIS is currently constituted is more of a research
institution. It is unable to act on its own [time sensitive]
intelligence since the constitution gives this prerogative to the
police," said Asman Kamama, chairman of the Administration and National
Security Committee in Kenya's parliament.
"The Westgate mall attack was an attack on Kenyan sovereignty and a
provocation," Kamama told Sabahi. "We are examining the operational
weaknesses in the National Intelligence Service Act so that we can amend
it accordingly and enable the agency to tackle the terror aggression
head on."
On Friday (October 18th), the National Intelligence Service Director
General Michael Gichangi, Inspector General of Police David Kimaiyo,
Director of Criminal Investigations Ndegwa Muhoro and Secretary of
Interior and Co-ordination of National Government Joseph ole Lenku are
expected to testify before parliament's Administration and National
Security Committee and the Defence and Foreign Relations Committee,
which are probing events surrounding the Westgate attack.
"The two committees are not on a witch-hunting mission or blame
game," Kamama said. "We are on a serious fact finding assignment
motivated by the desire to identify structural and operational weakness
within NIS and subsequently recommend how to empower the spy agency."
Kamama said NIS is staffed with the best minds in the field and is
funded adequately. "There is no reason [why] NIS reports should gather
dust on shelves in other agencies," he said. "If NIS was empowered, it
could make the difference between life and death. Our aim is to
strengthen NIS, not cripple it".
The NIS is 'a paper tiger'
NIS, known as the National Security Intelligence Service before the
NIS Act was passed in 2012, is directly supervised by the civilian-led
National Security Council.
Kenya's three-year old constitution stripped NIS of the power to take
direct action as a way to safeguard against civil rights violations,
but Raymond Kipkorir Cheruiyot, a retired Kenyan army colonel and
co-owner of Multi Security Consultants Limited in Nairobi, said the
quest to respect human rights and demand operational accountability has
crippled the agency.
"[The legislation] has reduced NIS into a paper tiger. This is not
the way to go. There are many mechanisms to check against spy agency
excesses such as parliamentary oversight authority or an independent
civilian authority," he said.
"If NIS cannot guarantee security to Kenyans and visitors at the
moment because of limitations from legislation, then the time is now to
take a closer and deeper look at the NIS Act in totality," he said.
Cheruiyot said Kenya should emulate developed countries that have powerful and efficient intelligence agencies.
"In my opinion, NIS should be given legislative powers to conduct
covert operations against terrorists in Kenya and beyond.
Counter-terrorism operations the world over have become complicated and
risky. Terrorists have upped their game by acquiring paramilitary
skills," Cheruiyot said.
"An empowered spy agency is the eyes, ears and nose of the
government. It is a platform on which state security is founded,"
Cheruiyot said. "Empowering NIS is akin to guaranteeing the safety of
Kenyans and ensuring state security in general." NIS reports are given
to the cabinet secretary of interior and co-ordination of national
government, the ministry's permanent secretary, the inspector general of
police, his two deputies and the director of the police's criminal
investigation department.
"Intelligence is meaningful when timely used to bring desirable
effects," said Ndungu Gathinji, chairman of parliament's defense and
foreign relations committee.
"However, credible intelligence, if not acted upon, is useless, [and
it is a] waste of taxpayers' money and an abdication of responsibility,"
he told Sabahi.
Changing the laws responsibly
PeaceNet Kenya Executive Officer Stephen Kirimi Mwamba said for the
NIS to have the much-needed operational power, parliament should amend
the NIS Act of 2012.
"NIS should be given the powers it requires to confront organized
crime such as terrorism, but at the same time be accountable to
parliament," he told Sabahi.
"NIS spy agents must have the power to conduct immediate property
searches and arrest terror suspects," Mwamba said. "The NIS Act limits
the powers of the spy agency by describing it as a civilian organization
and barring it from carrying out police functions or undertaking
paramilitary activities, yet spy work by nature requires paramilitary
and special operations skills or combat arms experience."
Some say, however, that Kenya should be cautious about giving increased powers to the intelligence agency.
"As long as the National Intelligence Service does not use unorthodox
means such as torture and illegal detention on suspects, I support
their quest for added power," said David Koros, programme coordinator of
Kenya's Centre Against Torture, an organization dedicated to the
protection of human rights and the rehabilitation of victims of torture
by security agents and armed groups.
"However, my advice is to counter terror with justice," he told
Sabahi. "For NIS to be trusted with sweeping powers, there must be
corresponding mechanisms of checks and balances against arbitrary
arrests, extra-judicial killings and falsification of evidence. In
essence, the NIS agents must act morally and ethically."
Source: Sabahionline
Source: Sabahionline
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