Day: January 16, 2013
Police assure Kenyans in hotspots of security
Deputy Police Spokesman Charles Owino has assured residents of Mathare, Eastleigh and other crime prone areas of their security ahead of the March 4, General Election.
He said that they have instituted a special unit of police to conduct security surveillance in the areas.
Owino noted that they will continue to monitor the situation in the areas to ensure residents have adequate security.
“We want to assure residents of Mathare, Eastleigh and the rest of the country that we are committed to promote their safety,” he said.
Owino, who was addressing a media briefing at a Nairobi hotel today, asked Kenyans to shun violence adding that they are ready to deal with law breakers.
He said that they will not hesitate to take action against law breakers saying that the country needs a peaceful environment for the election.
He stated that they have deployed enough security personnel ahead of the party nominations saying that aspirants should desist from instigating
Bloggers being watched over hate speech – Ombara
The director of public communication Mary Ombara has said that the Government is liaising with the media and several departments to ensure that the public is aware of hate speech connotations that may stir violence during campaigns.
Putting much emphasis on bloggers who are updating hate speech on their websites, she warned them that they were being monitored and soon would face charges according to the law.
Speaking during the weekly media briefing on Wednesday morning held at the Intercontinental hotel in Nairobi, Ombara stated that there have been massive education and awareness of the hate speech by the media channels and even personnel’s which is geared towards ensuring peaceful elections.
The director also said that a new short message system was underway to enable anyone to report any hates speech without paying any charges
“The monitoring of the social media, mostly bloggers, is being done by professionals deployed using specialised softwares. Bloggers are our key targets as they have massive followers more than even some radio stations. An average of 3 million blogs is being updated in a minute with great replies. Most of the content is hate speech and in evidence, four bloggers have been reported with updates of hate speech connotation and may be arraigned in court next week to face the charges,” noted Ombara.
The main headache reported is bloggers based in the diaspora who are managing a blog called ‘Kenyan talks’ which has continually updated content that has hate speech connotation that may have an impact of dividing the citizens abroad on tribal basis.
Meanwhile, the assistant police spokesman Charles Owino confirmed that party primaries that are expected tomorrow will be peaceful with police being deployed in the morning until the event winds up.
“Those intending to kick the ballot boxes with the papers of nomination should be prepared to be our guest tomorrow in the cells,” noted Owino.
SMS alert unveiled in Mathare to curb crime
A short message platform to alert residents on emergencies has been launched in the sprawling Mathare slums as the fight against crime takes centre stage.
The platform whose primary objective is to share information that touch on well being of the residents was founded by a blogger Javin Ochieng and endorsed by Mathare District Officer Jerald Omoke.
Speaking during the launch of the platform at NCCK Hall in Huruma, Starehe community policing head Patrick Lumumba exuded confidence in the programme, saying that communication breakdown has for many times led to destruction of properties whenever calamities strike the region.
Lumumba asked the residents to send alerting messages to 0729776558 to ensure speedy reactions to scourges by relevant authorities.
The author of the initiative, Javin Ochieng, said the platform has already helped to avert impending disorders in the volatile region as the police were updated in the recent weeks and urged the residents to continue with vigilance.
“No stranger brings discomfort in Mathare. For anything bad or good to happen in your area, at least some people have privy information,” noted Ochieng.
He further asked the residents to be objective while sharing information, saying that inflammatory massages will not be taken lightly.
Various communication platforms have been unveiled in the region to promote citizen journalism amongst residents in a bid to quell discomforts in the area that was worst hit during 2007 post election violence.
Uchaguzi Mathare 2013 