Support by media is key to winning war on banditry

The banditry and cattle rustling criminal enterprise have morphed into one of the top threats to national security.

Cases of bandits indiscriminately killing and maiming civilians and stealing their livestock are on the rise. 

The rustlers have the audacity to attack, sometimes fatally, security personnel deployed to maintain law and order. That explains why Kenyans and other stakeholders welcomed the security operation in North Rift to weed out bandits and recover the illegal firearms they use to terrorise residents. 

The media is one of the stakeholders that is instrumental in the fight against banditry. As the Fourth Estate, it provides much-needed support to the other three arms of government—Legislature, Executive and Judiciary—to formulate sound policies and laws to sustain democracy, constitutionalism and rule of law.

The media is a prime source of information on crime; hence, it can influence public opinion and policy positively or negatively. 

Conversely, biased media reportage can contribute to the failure of a state or non-state intervention. Most news consumers trust the media; hence, they can easily assume information disseminated via television, radio, newspaper or other platforms is gospel truth.

The media has been awash with news, features and editorials mainly touching on its legitimacy, effectiveness, success and shortcomings. Whereas most media houses report objectively to support the objective of pacification, a few do so in a manner that can be detrimental to national security.

Public misled

One of the areas where some media houses have intentionally misled the public is continuously criticising the government for deploying Kenya Defence Forces to the operation without parliamentary approval as required by law.

But the government has, on numerous occasions, clarified that the military is playing a peripheral role in the operation, which is led by the National Police Service. Its roles include providing security, logistical support and mapping out development and infrastructural projects to be implemented in a bid to open up the region. 

Some media coverage also appears to glorify bandits and degrade security agencies, which risks projecting them as accomplices to banditry. This compromises its instrumentality in nation-building and its key role as a purveyor of factual information. In Nigeria, the media was criticised as being ‘single story sellers’ for glamourising banditry and jeopardising government efforts to deal with the crime.

Kenyan media need to rise to the occasion and take on banditry and cattle rustling menace head-on. It can invest more in objective investigative journalism to unearth the sponsors of the vice.

Besides, journalists can be instrumental in exposing sources of illegal firearms that bandits use. The media can help in silencing guns, fighting banditry and sensitising the public to the dangers of crimes.

Kenyan media also need to avoid the temptation to depict pastoralists negatively. It is a major economic contributor to the economy, with research by the University of Nairobi and the International Institute for Environment and Development showing livestock and meat trade contribute nearly $1 billion with the pastoral sector worth over $800 million, providing over 80 per cent of meat consumed in the country.

Ms Ngure is a strategic communications consultant. [email protected].