The Day That Internal Minister Caused A Bank Crisis In Kenya: After first Kenyan woman police officer to die in the line of duty Elburgon saga

John Michuki directive triggers crisis

In his typical shoot-from-the-hip-and-ask-questions-later style, Internal security minister John Michuki has unwittingly led the Kibaki administration into yet another unnecessary crisis. This one coming in the sunset days of this administration that has broken all records in terms of self-created and self-inflicted crisis and in that respect stands head over shoulders above any other administration in the history of governance in East and Central Africa.

It all started with a daring ambush robbery of cash being transported to a bank somewhere in Elburgon last week that claimed the life of the first Kenyan woman police officer to die in the line of duty, as well as two male colleagues. Suddenly the good minister remembered that there were certain regulations in the transportation of money that have not been followed for a long time. His directives to the police concerning the transportation of cash has quickly culminated in a serious crisis.
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Michuki directed that all police officers escorting cash must henceforth wear bullet-proof vests. They must also travel in a separate car from the one transporting the cash. At first these appear to be reasonable requests. After all even as you read this, there are 3 grieving families making arrangements to bury their dead. But was this the right way to handle this situation? Apparently not, because the government does not have bullet proof vests in the necessary quantities to fulfill the wishes of the minister. So that cost as well as the cost f the extra chase cars falls back on the clients transporting the cash, which is in this case banks.

The aftermath is that virtually all armed escorts of cash in the country has ground to a halt. That means that there is a serious accumulation of cash at most banks, which in itself is a serious security risk that puts even more Kenyan lives in danger. Yesterday and this morning, top government officials were locked in meetings trying to resolve the self-created crisis.

Here is how an efficient modern government would have handled the situation. The minister should have quietly called a meeting with stakeholders and discussed how best to reduce the risks of transporting cash. Whatever directives would have been issued after that should have been implemented quietly with absolutely no press coverage. This has the huge advantage of taking any would-be highway robbers by surprise. Surprise is one of the most valuable and effective security weapons that anybody can have on their side.
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As it is now, every thug and would-be thug is receiving all the information they need for future operations first-hand and easily through the media.

The whole saga has made the internal security ministry and this government a laughing stock in security circles. By the way although bulletproof vests save lives in this case the impact would be minimal because most robberies put the thugs at close range with the guards and police escorts, which means that they can easily aim their guns at the heads of the security personnel. So apart from vests, the minister should also think of providing the officers with bulletproof helmets. And while we are at it, we might just as well supply bulletproof vests to all motorists, especially those driving in Nairobi on Fridays (the day reputed to have the highest carjackings).

Despite the good intentions, the handling of this situation has proved beyond any doubt that we have an internal security minister who does not have a full grasp of the issues let alone how security matters should be handled. Why did he just not delegate things to police commissioner Brigadier Ali?

Oh, I forgot. The last time I checked, the minister was calling a press conference to prove to the press that they are on talking terms with the police commissioner. Nobody swallowed that one.

This crisis should be solved easily in the next day or so, but what about the inevitable ones that will follow in the next 11 months?

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Most controversial past articles on John Michuki published in Kumekucha blog;

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Michuki's lethal shots wraps Kibaki in fraud

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