Tag Archives: Security

Kenya’s Escalating Security and Civic Rights Crisis

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Kenya is staring down a security crisis that can no longer be blamed on bandits or activists alone. From the shocking murder of Catholic priest Fr. Alois Bett in Kerio Valley to the arrest of digital activist Rose Njeri, recent events expose a breakdown of trust, law, and legitimacy in the very institutions meant to protect the public. In Kerio, teachers, doctors, and missionaries have fled as armed groups tighten their grip — filling the vacuum left by a state that shows up too late, with too little. More than 70 schools have been shut down, a major hospital has closed, and even church leaders now speak of “a valley of death.” What’s worse: when the state does intervene, its methods are often coercive rather than restorative — issuing ultimatums to entire communities under threat of “all necessary force.” This is not security. It’s collective punishment masquerading as policy, and it only deepens fear and fuels defiance. The government’s inability to distinguish bandits from residents or treat citizens as partners in peace risks entrenching a cycle of violence. This is not a crisis of capacity. It’s a crisis of credibility.

A Report by Citizen TV Kenya

The response to civic dissent has been equally chilling. The arrest and weekend detention of Rose Njeri — a software developer who created a digital tool for citizens to email objections to the Finance Bill — was a stark reminder that Kenya’s democratic space is narrowing fast. Her crime? Enabling public participation. This is not just an affront to digital freedoms — it’s a direct violation of Article 33 (freedom of expression) and Article 35 (access to information) of Kenya’s Constitution. Even more damning is the pattern. Detaining citizens over weekends to avoid court oversight has become an authoritarian reflex. This violates the legal standard upheld in Coalition for Reform and Democracy (CORD) & 2 others v Republic of Kenya & another [2015] eKLR, where the court held that prolonged detentions without charge constitute unconstitutional abuse of state power. Yet the tactic continues — often against youth activists, journalists, and tech-savvy organizers. These are not enemies of the state. They are its conscience. If the state treats code like a crime and civic tech as terrorism, it signals a descent into digital authoritarianism — one that no PR campaign or presidential handshake can disguise.

What Kenya needs now is more than investigations and operations. It needs political courage — and jurisprudential discipline. The government must fully implement existing rulings and international obligations. The IPOA’s mandate must be respected, and police accountability pursued with vigor, not rhetoric. Parliament must hold the executive to account when it violates rights under the guise of national security. The courts have laid the foundation. In Independent Policing Oversight Authority v Attorney General & 4 others [2020] eKLR, the High Court affirmed IPOA’s role as the sole lawful investigator of police misconduct. The Executive must respect that boundary. Meanwhile, civil society must continue challenging digital repression and pushing for laws that protect activists, not silence them. Kenya’s youth are not the threat — they are the firewall against authoritarian drift. From Kerio to Kibera, from code to constitution, Kenya’s real security will only be built when the state values trust more than force, and justice more than optics.

References:

Kenya News Agency County Commissioner Leads Madaraka Day with Tough Message on Illegal Brews

The Star Key suspect in murder of Catholic priest Allois Bett arrested

BBC Outrage in Kenya over detention of software developer

The Star Gachagua calls for immediate release of activist Rose Njeri

The Eastleigh Voice Kenya’s security at risk as regional instability grows, warns NIS boss

BBC Pressure mounts to probe Kenya police and army after BBC exposé

Kenya News Agency State declare a nationwide crackdown on organized criminal gangs

Job Scams in Kenya: A Growing Crisis

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Kenya’s job seekers are under siege. As economic pressures push more young people to chase opportunities abroad or online, fraudsters are sharpening their traps — and the stakes are deadly. Sophisticated job scams, often orchestrated by transnational crime rings, are landing unsuspecting Kenyans in forced labor operations across Southeast Asia. Many are lured with fake offers, issued tourist visas instead of work permits, and end up trapped in scam compounds under brutal, enslaving conditions. Despite repeated government warnings, the scams persist, exploiting systemic weaknesses like rampant youth unemployment, weak digital literacy, and sluggish protections around labor migration. While officials stress the importance of individual due diligence — verifying agencies, double-checking job offers, demanding proper contracts — the scale of trafficking shows that better-informed individuals alone can’t stop a crisis this large. It’s a systemic failure — and it’s costing lives.

A Report by Citizen TV Kenya

At the heart of the vulnerability is a perfect storm: soaring unemployment, heavy informal sector reliance, and a government labor export strategy that prioritizes remittances over robust citizen protection. Kenya’s policies encourage labor migration — but enforcement lags behind, leaving workers exposed. Digital platforms, once hailed as tools of empowerment, have become weapons for scammers: Facebook pages, WhatsApp groups, even fake LinkedIn listings are used to lure victims. The Kenyan government’s countermeasures — the NEAIMS verification portal, bilateral labor deals, and pre-departure training — help but are patchy and slow. Civil society groups and media investigations have done much to highlight the dangers, but without aggressive enforcement and diplomatic intervention, Kenyans will keep falling prey. This is not just about digital fraud anymore; it’s about modern slavery, forced criminality, and human suffering on an industrial scale.

Solving this crisis demands a collective rethink. Government agencies must dramatically tighten recruitment regulations, shut down illegal operators, and prosecute traffickers — including those hiding behind legitimate fronts. Embassies abroad must step up protections for Kenyans, while local authorities crack down on rogue recruiters. Civil society must keep exposing the networks exploiting desperate youth, and tech companies must purge their platforms of scam ads and pages. Meanwhile, citizens must be empowered — not just blamed — with real tools to verify job offers and report suspicious activity. But real safety will only come when the Kenyan economy offers enough decent, secure jobs at home, removing the desperation that drives risky migration. Until then, job scammers will continue to thrive — and Kenyans will continue to pay the price.

References:

The Standard Job scams: Some Kenyans aiding their own smuggling, says PS Njogu

Business & Human Rights Resource Centre Kenya’s labor export model exposes workers to exploitation and other labour rights abuses

Kenyans.co.ke Govt Outlines Verification Process for Jobs Abroad as Scams Surge

The Eastleigh Voice Job scam alert: Government cautions Kenyans on fake overseas opportunities

Jijuze Rethinking Kenya’s Job Strategy: From Exports to Domestic Growth

Jijuze Kenyans Trapped: The Dark Reality of Job Scams in Myanmar

Cryptocurrency Security: Persistent Threats and Measures for Continuous Improvement

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Crypto hacking incidents have shown fluctuating trends in 2024. Early in the year, a report revealed that hackers stole $1.7 billion in 2023, highlighting the growing threat. The RegTech Times reported that in Q1 2024, losses dropped by 23% compared to the same period in 2023, with total losses amounting to $336.3 million. Despite this reduction, crypto hacking still accounted for 96% of all incidents, reflecting the ongoing security challenges in the cryptocurrency industry. In February alone, over $67 million was stolen in 12 attacks on DeFi platforms, showcasing the sector’s vulnerability due to its decentralised nature and complex security needs.

10 Tampa Bay News Report

The first half of 2024 saw a significant rise in crypto thefts, with $1.4 billion stolen by hackers, according to a July 5 Reuters report. This sharp increase was attributed to sophisticated hacking techniques targeting digital assets. On the same day, Punch Nigeria reported data from DeFiLlama indicating that $664 million was stolen from crypto investors in the first six months of 2024. Chainalysis further highlighted that, despite enhanced security measures, substantial funds were still being stolen, underscoring the persistent threat to the cryptocurrency ecosystem. DeFi, or decentralised finance, platforms are blockchain-based systems that offer financial services without traditional intermediaries like banks. These platforms enable activities such as lending, borrowing, and trading through smart contracts, which are self-executing contracts with the terms directly written into code. The consistent targeting of DeFi platforms, with major breaches including $32.5 million from Playdapp and $26.1 million from Fixedfloat, emphasised the need for improved defenses.

These incidents underscore the critical need for continuous improvement in cybersecurity measures within the cryptocurrency sector. While there has been some success in reducing overall losses, the sophistication of attacks and the particular vulnerability of DeFi platforms remain significant challenges. The industry must evolve its security protocols, foster greater collaboration among stakeholders, and enhance user education to better protect against these persistent threats. The resilience of the cryptocurrency market will depend on its ability to adapt and fortify against an ever-evolving landscape of cyber threats.

References:

Reuters Crypto hacking thefts double to $1.4 bln in first half of 2024, researchers say

Punch Hackers steal $664m from crypto investors in six months – DefiLlama

Chainalysis Funds Stolen from Crypto Platforms Fall More Than 50% in 2023, but Hacking Remains a Significant Threat as Number of Incidents Rises
Reuters Crypto hackers stole around $1.7 bln in 2023 – report

RegTech Times Crypto Hacking Report for Q1 2024: Insights and Trends on declining incidents












KENYA FOOD SECURITY | A critical view

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Co-Author :  Victor Daniels

On February 22, 2010, a senior policy analyst with the Kenya Institute for Public Policy Research and Analysis (KIPPRA), was quoted saying, “we have a challenge in the management of our public affairs [and] the management of our food stocks. Sometimes we are exporting food yet we later need to import. There is failure to learn from best practices, to invest in knowledge and transform that knowledge into action.”

According to OneWorld UK, the UN “estimates that 3.5 million Kenyans will require food assistance, a figure that may rise before the end of 2011.” However, the assessments updated on July, 2011, “exclude the Somali refugees located in the Dadaab camps in eastern Kenya whose plight is managed as an international refugee crisis, as distinct from Kenya’s national food insecurity.” Scholars have blamed the looming food crisis in Kenya, not only on the failure of successive seasonal rains, but also on poor standards of governance, and mismanagement of the agriculture sector, coupled with lack of political goodwill. Providing credit facilities to farmers, setting up micro-irrigation schemes, and cash transfers to poor farmers, as well as effecting input subsidies are just but a few ways to begin the comprehensive process, to realize food security in Kenya.

Kenya Food Security

In light of the above, an economy should be based on a long-lasting, reliable system, not on slavery, and coercion. Our economy relies on greed, and a serious lack of thought about consequences. That is a very unstable sort of economy. A lucid socio-economic analysis of the mechanisms of exploitative processes in the Kenyan economy brings out Kenya’s predicament in the light of under-hand shady policy making, which is not exclusively Marxist, but still draws heavily on that school of thought. Even before the fall of the KANU regime, the prices of prime commodities such as tea, sugar, rice, and maize, have constantly been rising, which creates a conflict of interests considering we locally produce the same. Where does the buck stop? Can we still interpret this, as Kenya’s success story? Are the Kenyan food policies a success in terms of growth, or total output? The time has come to reappraise agricultural pricing policies in general, so that agriculture makes its optimum contribution to maximizing gross national production. For maize, the Kenyan staple grain, the producer’s selling price should be reviewed, and be set at the relevant export parity price. The consumer price should be down to a comfortable level, thus, the price should be set at the producer’s selling price, plus marketing costs- incurred in distributing the maize to consumers. It is true that costs are rising, but then, if a justified investment policy was directed for export, we would expect the abolition of domestic marketing, thus, providing comfortable floor and ceiling prices. Starvation in most Kenyan regions remains to haunt us due to the government’s sub-standard reckoning, without political goodwill for the Kenyan people. Well known Members of Parliament, politicians, senior civil servants, and business men affiliated to high echelons of power, have repeatedly been accused with controversial maize and sugar imports and exports, but still, calls to prosecute the alleged suspects, go unheeded. Impunity and indecisiveness, thrives at high levels of governance, and on the miseries of the citizenry, where justice refers to how deep your pockets are. Budgetary allocation for the Ministry of State for Development of Northern Kenya and Other Arid Lands is irrelevant, if the people meant to be protected by the same, are dying of acute food shortage, and malnutrition. The chronic famine situation in Kenya, signals a malfunction in the governance of the Kenyan democracy. Kenya truly needs, a decentralized system, of running State affairs. Focus should be on the people and their strengths, instead of importing western innovations, and ideologies. Since we should be the change we want to see, we should put an end to popularistic politics, and deal with real issues affecting Kenyans on the ground, in a comprehensive manner.

References:

Food Security in Kenya-briefing OneWorld UK, July, 2011

Experts voice food security concerns IRIN Africa, February 22, 2010

Outrage over rising food and fuel prices IRIN Africa, April 20, 2011