Kenyan Security Crippled by Lack of Funds

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Kenya is luring more terror groups as its security forces are not capable of handling basic security problems

Kenya may be facing a heightened risk from regional terrorism, but security forces in Kenya are hobbled by glaring under-funding due to government corruption and mismanagement.

The Toronto Star reports that the Anti-Terror Police Unit in Nairobi, the main force set up to combat acts such as the deadly 21 September 2013 attack by al-Shabaab on an upscale shopping mall in the city, has only $2,205 for its operations during the first quarter of the year — coming to just $735 for March. In comparison, an average parliamentary salary is around $45,000 for the same period.

iHLS – Israel Homeland Security

According to HLS News Wire It is exactly these high salaries that the Kenyan government is reporting as responsible for the crisis. In response to the revelation, Kenyan president Uhuru Kenyatta and Vice President William Ruto announced that they would each take a 20 percent pay cut. “For a long time, the security sector has not been given the attention it deserves. We are changing that,” Kenyatta told the Star.

Despite these arguments, officials acknowledge that the anti-terrorist force is underpaid, even amid corruption and abuses of fundamental rights.