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You must prevent further attacks, Uhuru tells forces


President Kenyatta has demanded closer cooperation between security agencies to protect Kenyans from further terrorist attacks.

Speaking a day after the US announced an additional Sh9.4 billion to fight terrorism, President Kenyatta said the police, the military and intelligence agencies can only do better if they share duties.

“You must work together and uphold the highest levels of co-ordination,” he said during the swearing-in of the new Chief of Defence Forces, Gen Samson Mwathethe.

It was conducted by Head of Public Service Joseph Kinyua

“The government is providing all the support required by the security forces, including modern equipment to perform their duties,” the President said.

Vice-Chief of Defence Forces Lt-Gen Joseph Kasaon and the Army Commander, Lt-Gen Leonard Muriuki, were also sworn in.

Gen Mwathethe takes over from Gen Julius Karangi, who has retired after serving all of Kenya’s four Presidents in his 42 years and 108 days in the military.

The President’s comments came amid a renewed optimism following a pledge by the United States to help to fight Somalia militants, Al-Shabaab.

148 PEOPLE KILLED

The group, which opposes KDF’s presence in Somalia, has been responsible for numerous attacks. The latest is the Garissa University College raid last month, in which 148 people were killed.

In most of the attacks, security agencies were accused of either sitting on intelligence reports or failing to coordinate properly in subduing terrorists. During the Westgate attack of 2013, in which 67 people were killed, police and military personnel, at one time, shot at one another as they battled to free hostages.

And last week, Interior Cabinet Secretary Joseph Nkaissery admitted there was a coordination failure during in the Garissa incident.

On Monday, US Secretary of State John Kerry announced Washington would be giving an additional $100 million (Sh9.4 billion) to help “push back and deal with terrorism”.

The money, he said, would be used to improve border security, intelligence sharing, law enforcement, military and police training, as well as purchasing of new equipment.

“The breadth of our engagement is really quite extraordinary, and all of it has come about through consultations directly with the government,” Mr Kerry told reporters in Nairobi.

The government has promised to pump more money into the security system this year.

Budget proposals for the financial year 2015/16 show that the National Treasury increased the allocation to the military and the police to Sh215 billion, about Sh26 billion higher than last year.