Kenya has been a soft target for Al Shabaab terror attacks and Immigration Principal Secretary Major-General (Rtd) Gordon Kihalangwa called for more preventive measures to be put in place to curb the menace.
The PS particularly called for tighter security at the National Assembly and the Senate.
Kihalangwa was attending a five-day conference of national conference for Sergeants-at-Arms in Naivasha which brings together Sergeants-at-Arms from Kenya, Uganda, Ghana, Mauritius and all the Kenyan counties.
“We are glad that no security threat has been reported in our National Assembly or Senate but this is no reason to drop your guard,” he said.
He challenged the officers to be alert, noting that Senate and the National Assembly are critical for the country’s governance, hence the need to enhance security.
“Your job as Sergeant-at-Arms is not only about the safety of the mace but also about the honourable members and their wellbeing,” he said.
Kihalangwa said with an increase in the number of visitors to the two Houses, there was need for security agents to be alert and heighten surveillance.
“Parliament and nearby buildings have expanded and there is need to address the issue of security in the wake of increased cases of terror attacks,” he was quoted by People Daily.
The PS also said corruption was a threat, and called on officers to be on the lookout for fraudsters around Parliament Buildings.
According to the police, the prime suspect of last year’s botched terror mission targeted the Supreme Court and other government installations in Nairobi and worked with several Kenyans who helped him acquire fake documents and move around.
The security officials said that the suspects targeted the Supreme Court as the epicentre of the bomb attack, which would have been followed by successive explosions at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre, Parliament Buildings, County Hall, Technical University of Kenya, Central Bus Station, Jeevanjee Gardens, Serena Hotel, the University of Nairobi, and Milimani Law Courts.
The then Inspector-General of Police Joseph Boinnet said had the plot succeeded, it would have caused massive infrastructural devastation, deaths and injuries.