Civil Societies Warn Murkomen Against Deploying NIS Officers in Universities

Members of the Civil Societies in Kenya have warned Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen against deploying National Intelligence Service (NIS) officers in the universities.

This is after Murkomen on Thursday, February 13, revealed plans by the government to deploy NIS officers in all universities in the country to curb drug and alcohol abuse.

According to Murkomen, there was a need to deploy NIS officers after a report by the National Authority for the Campaign Against Drug and Alcohol Abuse (NACADA) revealed that over 50 per cent of university students in the country abuse alcohol and drugs.

Led by Suba Churchill of the Kenya National Civil Society Centre (KNCSC), the civil society argues that deploying NIS to universities would impair the freedom and rights of lecturers and students to learn and express ideas and opinions in academic institutions.

“KNCSC is of the view that establishing police stations and police posts within the precincts of State universities for the undercover NIS officers to gather information and coordinate with other police departments to tackle drug peddling and use, is the tolling of the bell on the death of what may be left of academic freedom and enabling environment that members of the school community need to research, publish, and create,” read part of the statement signed by Churchill.

KNCSC and other Kenyans of goodwill argued that they do not trust that the intention of the government to deploy the NIS in the university is noble, especially in the wake of the increased abductions and forced disappearance of the youths witnessed in the country.

“Coming at a time when widespread abductions, enforced disappearances, and extra-judicial killings have plagued the country following public protests we are not persuaded that the intention and motive of the government proposal to deploy the NIS and other undercover police officers in the universities is noble, ” Churchill noted.

Further, they argue that the move has the potential to undermine and erode the rights and fundamental freedoms that the constitution guarantees all Kenyans, including university students.

The civil society organisations have demanded that CS Murkomen and the government, in general, abandon the proposal in its entirety.

Rejecting the proposal by the Interior CS, civil society organisations have opposed the move, citing the potential for the action to stray into other objectives for which it may not have been intended and the chilling effect it would have on natural and legal rights.

The civil society was responding to calls by CS Murkomen to hold an urgent national conversation on adopting an all-of-society approach to combat drug and substance abuse in universities.

The NACADA report on drug abuse in universities revealed that alcohol was the most available substance among university students at 87.3 per cent, followed by cigarettes at 64.4 per cent and shisha at 41.2 per cent.