Informer
JF-Expert Member
- Jul 29, 2006
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Kenya's National Intelligence Service, which is increasingly encroaching on the political sphere, will soon possess a social media surveillance system made to measure by Milkor.
To contend with the political activism sweeping through the country, the boss of Kenya's National Intelligence Service (NIS) is set to procure a social media surveillance and cybersecurity system for his agency. Philip Kameru has asked the South African firm Milkor, better known for its grenade launchers and armoured vehicles, to design and operate an IT solution to monitor the political situation in the country.
An increasingly powerful NIS
This two-year contract should guarantee Kameru a key frontline role in the presidential election scheduled for 2022, just after Milkor's contract expires. Although the current president Uhuru Kenyatta cannot stand again in 2022, he is determined to have a say in who succeeds him and is waiting for the opportune moment to announce his anointed successor.
The president, who is having to contend with splits in the Jubilee Party between his own supporters and the camp of his deputy president William Ruto, is already heavily reliant on his intelligence chief to help him to read the political climate in the country (Africa Intelligence, 14/02/20), and Kameru has been expanding his prerogatives within the state apparatus since he was confirmed in his post for another five years in August 2019.
Occupying a central position in the security apparatus composed of the NIS, the Directorate of Military Intelligence (DMI) headed by Said Mohamed Farah and the various police and military entities, he has established himself as Kenyatta's most influential security advisor. The spy chief, whose main task is to monitor the self-proclaimed jihadist movement al-Shabaab, won the trust of the president by taking in hand the delicate and politically charged anti-corruption drive, which cost the treasury secretary Henry Rotich his job in July 2019. Kameru is also credited with having restructured and professionalised the NIS.
NIS militarisation
Since becoming the head of the civilian intelligence agency, this former general in the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) has brought several ex-military men on board and the NIS is taking on an increasingly military character - its new cybersecurity subcontractor Milkor is a supplier of defence equipment.
Though for the time being NIS is opting for a passive IT cybersecurity solution mainly designed for monitoring social media, Milkor also offers cyberattack and defence systems. But these IT solutions only began to feature in the company's catalogue in 2018 and it remains first and foremost a manufacturer of drones, arms and armoured vehicles.
Source: Africa Intelligence
To contend with the political activism sweeping through the country, the boss of Kenya's National Intelligence Service (NIS) is set to procure a social media surveillance and cybersecurity system for his agency. Philip Kameru has asked the South African firm Milkor, better known for its grenade launchers and armoured vehicles, to design and operate an IT solution to monitor the political situation in the country.
An increasingly powerful NIS
This two-year contract should guarantee Kameru a key frontline role in the presidential election scheduled for 2022, just after Milkor's contract expires. Although the current president Uhuru Kenyatta cannot stand again in 2022, he is determined to have a say in who succeeds him and is waiting for the opportune moment to announce his anointed successor.
The president, who is having to contend with splits in the Jubilee Party between his own supporters and the camp of his deputy president William Ruto, is already heavily reliant on his intelligence chief to help him to read the political climate in the country (Africa Intelligence, 14/02/20), and Kameru has been expanding his prerogatives within the state apparatus since he was confirmed in his post for another five years in August 2019.
Occupying a central position in the security apparatus composed of the NIS, the Directorate of Military Intelligence (DMI) headed by Said Mohamed Farah and the various police and military entities, he has established himself as Kenyatta's most influential security advisor. The spy chief, whose main task is to monitor the self-proclaimed jihadist movement al-Shabaab, won the trust of the president by taking in hand the delicate and politically charged anti-corruption drive, which cost the treasury secretary Henry Rotich his job in July 2019. Kameru is also credited with having restructured and professionalised the NIS.
NIS militarisation
Since becoming the head of the civilian intelligence agency, this former general in the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) has brought several ex-military men on board and the NIS is taking on an increasingly military character - its new cybersecurity subcontractor Milkor is a supplier of defence equipment.
Though for the time being NIS is opting for a passive IT cybersecurity solution mainly designed for monitoring social media, Milkor also offers cyberattack and defence systems. But these IT solutions only began to feature in the company's catalogue in 2018 and it remains first and foremost a manufacturer of drones, arms and armoured vehicles.
Source: Africa Intelligence
