CCTV’s to be installed in Nairobi, says PM

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Kenya has received a Sh8.5b grant from China for the project/XINHUA-File

NAIROBI, Kenya, May 23 – Prime Minister Raila Odinga on Wednesday said the government will soon start installing Close Circuit Television (CCTV) cameras in Nairobi to enhance security.

He told Parliament that Nairobi, Mombasa, Kisumu, Eldoret, Nakuru, Nyeri and Meru will be the initial centres to get the CCTV equipment.

“Installation of CCTVs will help the police with their work in surveillance because we will be able to detect the criminals as they move around trying to commit the crime or after they have committed the crime they can be quickly apprehended,” he said.

Odinga told Parliament that the government has received grant of Sh8.5 billion from the Chinese government and that four companies to supply and install the gadgets had been identified.

He said the government has arranged a further Sh1.7 billion. The China Road and Bridge Corporation is managing the project.

Odinga said the project will be implemented almost immediately.

The PM said when the project is completed; it will not only ease traffic jams in Nairobi, but also underscore the city’s position as a regional hub.

He was addressing the House on the security situation along the border between South Sudan and Sudan and in Somalia and its implications for the country where he said Kenya carries the largest burden on account of the instability in Somalia than any other country in the world.

“Efforts to realize a constitutional government in Somalia by August 2012 continue to be undermined by partisan and rival clan interests and the influence of Al Shabaab,” Odinga said.

LABAN WANAMBISI

LABAN WANAMBISI

Laban Wanambisi is a Parliamentary and Political reporter. He joined the Capital Newsteam in 2005. Since then, he has reported on many of the major news events over the years including his first major assignment covering the 2005 National Referendum on the Draft Constitution, and several other subsequent key national and international events.

  • Mzeekobe

    Has it occurred to the geniuses in government that to get clear images on cctv(esp. at night/eve) you need adequate lighting? Most grenade attacks have been at night. Whatever happened to the 5 billion shilling Pasarris, street lighting program from a few years ago?  This is just another scam by politicians to loot money for the upcoming elections.

  • Boiyot

    Now that this is the epitome of misplaced priorities! We have so many other ‘urgent’ issues that should be solved first but no, we’ll go put up some CCTV cameras first!
    Has the policing failed? We don’t really need these things! Not yet anyway.

  • Afan

    Totally ridiculous, how will people be identified from the grainy CCTV images? We do not have an efficient enough digitised citizen database to be able to make good use of CCTV. How will this underscore the city’s position as a regional hub? You might as well fill the city with smartly dressed police statutes for that is how effective the CCTV cameras will be, they may document crime but will not reduce or stop it from happening. The police are still ill-trained, ill-equipped and poorly paid; kindly address those pressing issues first.
    This article reads like idle gossip “he-said, she-said”… I challenge Laban Wanambisi to inject some creativity and research in his writing, be the change you want to see in the world. Be more informative, tell people what CCTV is, how it works, how it is used and where, throw in credible and well referenced statistics, which companies have been identified to supply and install the cameras, what is their experience, when were tenders advertised and where? The media has a big role to play in educating and informing the nation, help us get this nation to where it needs to be, we hope you chose to be a parliamentary and political reporter to serve your people and make your country greater.

  • Secure Digital Limited

    this is secure digital limited we just wanted to say this is a very great idea we deal with china companies and we supply and install cctv and we have the best authorized products we want to know are the companies given this project from china or from kenya. but the kenya companies where are they benefiting from this project.

  • Secure Digital Limited

    to answer afan
    its true its very possible and they will be identified because the cameras will be installed linking then to nearest police station and then we will have cctv surveillance substations equipped with all necessary gadgets and they will doing the monitoring 24 hours an image can be zoomed from 100 to 300mts and be able to see what is happening.
    are you satisfied afan
    We have done it and there are cameras for that and we are praying we get a piece of the pie because if its done right with no corruption we are heading to a very advanced error.
    we always go for training every year for new products and i know its possible and we have the know how to do it.

  • http://www.facebook.com/kamunguna Michael Kamunguna

    This a waste of funds; it is based on the assumption that crime are committed on the open streets. Serious crimes are committed behind closed doors, away from public CCTV. There are already cameras installed within the upper class regions of Nairobi CBD- have they reduced crime? Who was committing crimes outside Hilton Hotel or behind Kencom? Secondly, the cameras will obviously be placed in the towns and cities- crimes are planned in the outskirts of the city. With the poor telecommunication networks in Kenya, we can be sure that most of the time the camera systems will be non-functional.