Kenyan parliamentary security committee has questioned the effectiveness of CCTV cameras in Nairobi following the shooting and murder of a member of parliament last weekend.
George Muchai, a member of parliament for Kabete constituency, was shot dead by armed men at 3 a.m in the city centre. CCTV cameras from nearby government buildings captured the incident, but it was not sufficient to identify or track the criminals.
Based on unreleased footage, the police were only able to get the model and number plate of the car.
Asman Kamama, chairman of the national security committee, has questioned if the cameras are monitored and, if so, what the police could have done to track the suspects.
“We need to confirm whether the CCTV is working. We expect those manning the command centres to have informed police to block all roads out of the city after that incident,” Kamama said at a press briefing.
Wanjiku Muhia, Women Representative for Nyandarua County said that, “Why should we put billions and billions to the city streets with CCTV which cannot even catch a chicken?”
The Nairobi County government has installed several CCTV cameras in the city under a KShs 500 million (US$5.5 million) project.
The National government is in the process of installing CCTV cameras in Nairobi and Mombasa in conjunction with telecom service provider Safaricom. The move is expected to give the police state of the art equipment and help secure the country against crime and terrorism.
This latest murder puts the spotlight on the readiness of the country to fight crime using technology.
