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President Uhuru Kenyatta has in the past been accused of making so many foreign trips.
He has been representing Kenya in international conferences and forums. However, there are economic benefits of trade deals associated with such foreign trips.
When President Kenyatta joined US President Donald Trump, in the White House recently, most people assumed the discussions focused on trade deals. But the thinks Kenya has a big role to play here in the region.
The result of the White House meeting was that Kenya would be granted the honour of becoming the site for the first US-funded Joint Terrorism Task Force outside the US.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) will train 42 Kenyan investigators for 12 weeks at its headquarters in Virginia.
But the cooperation is already even deeper. On January 15, 2019, terrorists attacked the DusitD2 Hotel in Nairobi.
The Al-Shabaab terrorists came heavily armed with AK-47s, grenades. When our forces arrived, they subdued the terrorists, but there was still a major concern for how many innocent Kenyans were still trapped in the building. The security agents quickly and efficiently evacuated dozens of survivors to safety.
Among our brave Kenyans who participated in this counter-terrorist operation had already received equipment and training from the US. In fact, the US State Department’s Anti-terrorism Assistance (ATA) programme is a direct result of these close relations.
On that day for Kenya, the ATA-equipped Kenyan Bomb Disposal Unit was on the scene.
They managed to detonate a bomb outside of the building. Had the bomb exploded, many lives could have been lost.
Credit must go to the brave Kenyans who fought the terrorists and saved lives. But politicians and diplomats also deserve to be congratulated.
Over the last decade, our lawmakers have taken a more serious approach to counter-terrorism.
Prior to 2010, for example, our struggle was held back by lack of legal platforms to prosecute acts of terrorism. Over the years important new pieces of legislation have been passed.
Such laws include the Prevention of Terrorism Act, Proceeds of Crime and Anti Money Laundering Act and Prevention of Organised Crime Act.
Most notably in 2014, the Security Laws (Amendment) Act was passed. This legislation amended more than twenty existing laws and was nothing short of revolutionary in tightening counter-terrorism legislative framework.
It created new bodies to deal with terror threats, including anti-terror police units, and bomb disposal units which saved so many lives in the DusitD2 hotel attack.
The law also brought into place a new cyber forensics investigative unit, bringing Kenya’s law enforcement in line with 21st century threats.
However, as we move forward, we must internalise that the fight against terrorism.
We have excellent relations with some of the leading global experts in fighting terrorism including Israel, the UK, the US and Russia.
The British even sponsored a 600,000 USD counter terrorism centre for the Anti-Terror Police Unit in Mombasa.
So next time we see President Kenyatta on a foreign trip, we would know he is out to improve the lives of Kenyans.
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