Militias which perpetrated some of the worst violence in the last General Election have transformed into criminal gangs and pose a grave threat to the nation’s security.
Most of them are taking advantage of the community policing project to claim legitimacy as community-based vigilante groups, according to the latest monitoring report commissioned by the Kofi Annan-led Panel of Eminent African Personalities that negotiated the end to the post-election violence. Some 1,300 people were killed and another 650,000 displaced in the violence.
A move by the government to revamp the community policing project is reported to be yielding negative results. The project was revamped in 2005 and its budgetary allocation increased 20-fold to Sh84 million for the 2009/2010 financial year.
“Community policing through vigilantes is turning into a source of insecurity for communities. Illegal groups as well as vigilantes demand payment for security in poor neighbourhoods,” reads part of the report.
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