Security chiefs now on edge as Ruto plans changes after riots

Senior security bosses are not sitting pretty in their offices, as President William Ruto is expected to make a major reshuffle in the wake of the nationwide protests that saw a mob enter Parliament and ransack parts of it for more than 30 minutes.

The chiefs are said to have been caught napping as Generation Z staged protests, destroying the property of leaders including Majority Leader Kimani Ichung’wa, National Assembly Finance Committee chairman Kimani Kuria, Kapsaret MP Oscar Sudi and Igembe South MP John Paul Mwirigi for their role in passing the unpopular bill.

The news comes as parliamentary authorities estimated it would cost almost Sh800 million to repair the damage caused by protesters.

The President is said to be seeking answers from his security chiefs on how the mob entered Parliament and why the bosses did not have prior intelligence reports about any planned invasion.

How could the security bosses fail to detect plans for a nationwide protest of such magnitude?

Faulting NIS

Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua appeared to read from this line of thinking when he blamed the National Intelligence Service (NIS) for failing to provide them with advance intelligence briefs on the nationwide protests.

He said that had the President known two months ago about the widespread opposition to the 2024 Finance Bill, he would not have instructed his parliamentary party to push it through.

“Unfortunately, so many Kenyans have died despite the existence of an organisation paid by the public to provide such critical information to the President and the government, which could have prevented the mayhem,” Gachagua lamented.

He criticised the NIS, describing it as “dysfunctional” and saying it has exposed the President, the government and the people of Kenya. 

“We have a dysfunctional National Intelligence Service that ... failed to inform the President two months ago about how the people of Kenya feel about the Finance Bill 2024,” he said. 

Gachagua claimed Noordin Haji, the Director-General of NIS, was a junior officer in the service before being appointed as Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).

“When he was appointed Director-General, he chased away all the senior personnel, crippling the capacity of the service and rendering it dysfunctional. He dismissed three directors and 13 assistant directors, all with proven track records, leaving the security sector unprepared for the intensity of public anger,” Gachagua claimed. 

’Frequently absent’

He also accused Haji of being frequently absent on business trips, suggesting that this undermined the effectiveness of the service.

“He must take responsibility for failing the government of the Republic of Kenya. I urge President William Ruto to urgently consider reinstating the three directors and 13 assistant directors removed from NIS to restore sanity and ensure the National Intelligence Service serves the President, the government, and the people of Kenya,” Gachagua said.

Reports have also emerged that arrogance and a cynical attitude among some high-ranking Kenya Kwanza officials, security bosses and close aides of President Ruto led to the security lapses and aided the resolve of the protesters and leading to the massive destruction of property.

Some of the officials are said to have adopted a dismissive attitude towards the protesters, publicly describing them as “a bunch of harmless excited youngsters out to use the demos to take pictures for use on TikTok” as they downplayed the inherent security risk.

Their cynicism was worsened by another lot of State House operatives who exhibited opulence and arrogance publicly, both angering and hardening Generation Z, whose confidence and trust in the Kenya Kwanza administration had hit a crescendo.

Sources intimated to People Daily that President Ruto, who monitored the happenings from his State House office on Tuesday, was left furious with his security chiefs to the extent that he rebuked some of them in the presence of State House officials.

Among those said to be under scrutiny are Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki, Inspector General of Police Japhet Koome, Haji, the NIS Director-General, Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) boss Mohamed Amin and Nairobi regional police commander Adamson Bungei.

On Wednesday, President Ruto summoned all the security chiefs to State House, where he is said to have dressed them down over the lapses that led to the breach of Parliament.