The move aims at preventing al Shabaab attacks. Photo/tuffphones.co.ukKenya Defence Forces soldiers will be deployed to protect telecommunications masts in five counties on August 8 to prevent possible disruption of mobile network that will be relied on in transmitting election results to the main tallying centre in Nairobi.
Police Spokesperson Charles Owino said Tuesday the soldiers will be deployed in Lamu, Tana River, Wajir, Garissa and Mandera. The exercise will cost the taxpayer Sh1.5 billion.
The August 8 election results will be relayed electronically and a stable network will be key in ensuring results are sent to the national tallying centre at the Bomas of Kenya in real time.
The masts belong to the country’s three telecom operators—Safaricom, Airtel and Telkom Kenya who networks will be used for transmitting results.
Owino said the deployment of the military in far flung counties is meant to safeguard the masts from al Shabaab who can interfere with them affecting vote tally transmission.
All the counties where the KDF will be deployed have suffered terrorist attacks.
The terrorist group has proved hard to fight using the police as they have persistently attacked their installation in volatile North Eastern and Coast regions.
Treasury’s pre-election report indicates government allocated the Defence department Sh1.5 billion in the 2017/18 Financial Year to help enhance security along the borders.