Joseph ole Lenku introduces new security plan

The government is working on new community policing to curb runaway insecurity, Interior Cabinet Secretary Joseph ole Lenku said on Wednesday.

Mr Lenku said this would be the Nyumba Kumi (household cluster system) practised in neighbouring Tanzania. (VIDEO: Govt turns to clustered homes plan)

Under Nyumba Kumi, each Tanzanian is required to know people living in 10 houses around them and what they do for a living. It was established by Tanzania’s founding President, Julius Nyerere.

Mr Lenku has, therefore, asked all county commissioners to start implementing it.

On Monday, he said that this would help step up security and assist in smoking out criminals, including terrorists.

Mr Lenku told security chiefs to ensure the current system of villages under a village elder is restructured into 10 household units, with a clear leadership that will be responsible for the security of the households.

“As regional coordinators and county commissioners, you should urgently mobilise and sensitise your grassroots staff to immediately embark on the implementation of the concept as a strategy to enhance security,” he said in Nairobi.

“The concept will be rolled out in both rural and urban areas with the aim of encouraging Kenyans to know their neighbours.”

In Tanzania, each village elder is required to know people in 10 houses around them and what they do. In this arrangement, families are required to provide information on their visitors, where they came from and their stay period.

The system makes it easy for residents to know each other.