NAIROBI SET TO INTRODUCE CCTV SURVEILLANCE TO IMPROVE SECURITY
Starting in early 2013 will Nairobi’s city centre and key traffic hotspots outside the CBD be covered by CCTV surveillance cameras, aimed to improve security for city residents and visitors alike.
Over 50 locations have been selected and the installation, due to start in February next year, will cost in excess of 400 million Kenya Shillings, according to a source who attended the formal project launch on Monday at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre in Nairobi.
The source, a periodic contributor from the Kenyan tourism industry, used the opportunity to say in a mail: ‘It is a good initiative for monitoring traffic. I am not so sure about the immediate impact on crime but at least when something happens in view of the cameras perhaps criminals can be identified and response can be faster. We would still advise our visitors to use licenses cabs from the hotels where they stay and avoid walking between dusk and dawn. Even during the day caution is advised when walking in the city because of pick pockets and even muggings. The situation is better now but one just should be careful. And it would be good to also extend this system to Mombasa and other urban centres in the country to improve surveillance, especially ahead of our elections next year’.
That said, and keeping Kampala’s experience in mind, where out of service cameras have in the past blinded the ‘eyes in the skies’ in the central control room, it can only be hoped that regular maintenance and sufficient staffing will be assured to make this project a success.
