Juja MP Francis Waititu has endorsed the call by governors to devolve security plans to county level.
Speaking on Thursday in his Constituency, Waititu reaffirmed that if insecurity is tamed at the grassroots, the current challenge in addressing the upsurge will fall drastically.
“We don’t mean that the governors will be mandated to recruit new police officers or hand over weapons to them. What we mean is that the governors should be given the mandate to ensure that security in their respective counties is at its best,” Waititu reiterated.
He also noted that mandating the national government with the matter poses a challenge yet the counties have their heads who can well address the matter lest they are held accountable.
“We don’t expect the president to follow up on cases of cattle rustling in Kajiado or Narok while we have a governor there. For instance, if the Garissa governor could have addressed the matter before hand, the attack could be addressed. If the OCS is sleeping in the job, let the governor take action against him,” added Waititu.
He also lobbied for more powers to be given to the county bosses to discipline errant officers in their oversight mandate.
Governors have continued to back this motion and giving mixed reactions on matters security in the ongoing Annual Devolution Conference in Kisumu.