Nairobi – Dennis Itumbi, the Head of Presidential Special Projects and Creative Economy, has come to the defense of the National Intelligence Service (NIS), describing it as the backbone of stability in Kenya and the region. His comments follow recent allegations by Public Service Cabinet Secretary Justine Muturi, who accused NIS of being behind the abduction of his son, Leslie Muturi, in June of last year.
Muturi, who was the Attorney General at the time of the incident, directly implicated NIS Director General Noordin Haji, demanding an explanation for the motive behind the alleged abduction.
In a statement issued on his social media pages, Itumbi praised the NIS, highlighting his personal experiences during training sessions at the NIS headquarters. “The truth is that it is very hard to love the National Intelligence Service (NIS), it is actually easier to hate and criticize them,” Itumbi remarked, acknowledging the service’s often thankless role.
He added that the urgency has become a punching bag for those who aim at fighting the president or the government given its voiceless nature, “it is actually easier to hate and criticize them. Especially when the real target of the criticism is the Government or the President himself. NIS is always an easy target—silent, vigilant, without a voice of their own.” He said.
He emphasized the NIS’s crucial, often unseen, work in maintaining national security, citing instances where the service had neutralized threats, though specifics remain undisclosed due to security oaths.
NIS Director General Noordin Haji.
Itumbi recounted how former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua had praised the NIS for its self-correcting systems and dedication to national security during these training sessions. “Under Noordin Haji’s tenure, this legacy not only persisted but also encouraged dialogue with society as a whole,” Itumbi added, suggesting a balance between intelligence work and public accountability.
Itumbi lauded the heroic efforts by the intelligence agency in averting attacks in the country, “think about this: How many unseen threats does the NIS neutralize each day to keep us safe? Threats we may never hear of, but ones that could change our lives forever.” He said.
Addressing the criticism directly, Itumbi does not deny the need for accountability, especially regarding serious allegations like abductions. “So, should we remain silent about abductions? That’s not my point at all. Speak up, demand answers through thorough investigations,” he stated, advocating for a transparent process to hold those responsible accountable.
However, he urged for a measured perspective when critiquing national institutions like the NIS. “But even as we raise our voices, let us not forget to reserve the respect due to one of our foremost institutions,” he concluded, emphasizing the NIS’s role in national unity and security.
The grant of Charter to the National Intelligence Research University (NIRU) last week by President William Ruto has positioned Kenya as a security research and innovation hub, providing intelligence to regional and African states.
In the very essence, intelligence is about adding value to decision making and Kenya has now opened its academic doors to education and research, positioning the country as a hub for intelligence education.
The university, ran by the National Intelligence Service (NIS), is positioned to provide specialised training and also conduct advanced research to equip intelligence officers with the skills needed to protect both national and regional interests.
The specialised fully-fledged university, which already has students from other African countries, readies Kenya and the continent to tackle evolving complex security dynamics, from the global terrorism threat to cyber threats and food security.
African university
During the charter granting ceremony held at State House last Tuesday, President Ruto said the institution is timely, noting that it will play a crucial role in filling the intelligence education and research gap in Africa and bolstering security capabilities.
“Chartering the National Intelligence Research University is especially timely as Kenya faces complex security challenges,” Ruto said.
He urged the institution to forge close collaboration with industry to ensure graduates are equipped to meet the country’s and regional evolving needs in fields like engineering, security, and digital innovation.
Speaking after the award of a charter, NIRU Vice Chancellor James Kibon explained that the long journey to NIRU started with collaborations with other academic institutions.
It began with a postgraduate diploma in security and strategic studies at the University of Nairobi in the early 2000s.
Later, Dr Kibon said, the Service partnered with Strathmore University in offering courses starting with a Master’s Degree in Diplomacy, Intelligence and Security, the first cohort that graduated in 2019.
While these collaborations helped meet the academic training needs of the Service (NIS) at the time, the VC says growing demand birthed a need to establish its own university.
“There is a new melting point for diverse cultures of intelligence created in Kenya. NIRU is supporting Kenya and the continent in terms of leadership and matters of peace and security in the region,” Kibon said.
The VC said NIRU is specific on its mandate and intends to create a research-intensive university in addition to science, technology and innovation.
“The position of NIRU is an African university. It is in Kenya but the positioning is African to support the intelligence community. It exists to tell the African story and we are deliberate in terms of strategy,” he adds.
Kibon says the collapse of the Berlin Wall had a profound impact on global security and rather than the threat being driven externally, it seemed to come from internal sources and new wars started emerging, intra-state rather than interstate conflicts.
“At the time, the wind of change was sweeping and calls for accountability, particularly of the developing world democratising, intensified. Intelligence was no longer founded only on protecting the State against external aggression and there was a need for intelligence to not only recalibrate but also become more accountable,” Kibon said in the interview.
Against this backdrop, he says, there was need to establish the National Security and Intelligence Service (NSIS), a professional intelligence organisation accountable to Kenyans – professional to the extent that it could address the emerging threats.
Noordin Haji, the Director General of NIS and chair of the Board of Trustees of the university says the turn of the millennium necessitated the need to respond to the changing environment of threats.
“While our efforts have invariably contributed towards the professionalisation of intelligence, sustainability remained a challenge. We embarked on a process to establish a centre of excellence in intelligence research,” Haji said during the award of the charter.
Through Legal Notice No. 96 of June 11, 2021, the National Intelligence and Research University College was established as a constituent of the National Defence University – Kenya (NDU-K).
Kibon said that Kenya plays a critical role in terms of ensuring peace and security and by bringing different countries, NIRU is inputting a strategic culture in the region and continent. He said that with NIRU, countries will be harmonising different cultures in terms of addressing the threats that each face and establishing strategic contacts that will go a long way in bringing leaders together of various intelligence agencies in the region. Kibon also said this is also an avenue to establish homegrown solutions for intelligence in a cost-effective environment.
President William Ruto and James Kibon the Vice Chancellor National Intelligence and Research University when he awarded charters to the Islamic University of Kenya and National Intelligence and Research University at State House, Nairobi County on Nov 5, 2024. [PCS]
He said the university, socialised as it is, will not admit civilians and that it will draw its students from security outfits. And before admissions, students will undergo a rigorous vetting process to secure a slot.
The VC explains that the long journey to NIRU started with a postgraduate diploma in security and strategic studies at the University of Nairobi in early 2000s, which continued and was upgraded to a Master’s programme years later. By 2016, there was a huge backlog of students who had not graduated, yet they had completed their programmes.
“All groups had done their Master’s but had not graduated at the University of Nairobi. An agreement was made to suspend admissions,” he recounted.
“During this time, we saw a proliferation of intelligence studies programmes in the US, UK and other areas but in Africa, we did not have that. This conversation, therefore, came at a time when we decided to start our university,” Dr Kibon says.
The VC says as tis was happening, it was realised that whereas there was a lot of literature in the West speaking about intelligence programmes and activities in Africa, there was no African voice.
It all started in 2019, a technical committee to work on the establishment of a university, comprising technical experts from the industry and academicians, was formed to develop proposed programmes for the university and work on the accreditation of the university.
One of the major outcomes of that stakeholder engagement was that officers were well trained but there was a gap at the strategic level, thus four broad areas were identified, which required development of programmes.
The areas identified were strategic intelligence studies, intelligence, security and policy studies, strategic intelligence communication and how intelligence and technology interact. Out of these, four programmes were developed.
The breakout of the Covid-19 pandemic slowed down the process but it still continued. As this happened, the Department of Defense was in the process of starting a university, now the National Defence University of Kenya (NDU-K).
Kibon says a decision was made at the National Security Council that only one university would be accredited, so NDU-K was picked.
First cohort
“NIRU became a constituent college of NDU-K. The guidance from the National Security Council was that instead of having the two charters, we grant one institution, then the other one becomes a constituent college. So, our legal order was gazetted on June 11, 2021,” he explains. With the gazettement of the legal order as a constituent college of NDU-K, work on its structure commenced to institutionalise and implement it.
As a constituent college, the first cohort of Masters in Strategic Intelligence Studies with 15 students was admitted in 2022. The Masters of Arts in Intelligence, Security and Policy Studies also had 15 students, all were Kenyans from the NIS.
In 2023, the second group came in, comprising 20 students. The programmes covered were Master of Arts in Strategic Intelligence Communication and the Master of Science in Technology and Intelligence Studies. Some 11 students studied the technology programme while nine others pursued the communication programme.
This cohort is set to graduate at the NDU-K in two week’s time.
A senior intelligence officer, who police claim died by suicide on Tuesday, was planning to expand his popular restaurant in Kisumu City, according to staff who described him as generous but secretive.
Tom Mboya Adala, who was an assistant director at the National Intelligence Service (NIS) headquarters in Ruaraka, Nairobi, was also the proprietor of Yurop Choma Zone.
He regularly visited the restaurant every weekend, according to his employees but had curiously kept away over the past couple of months.
Adala had informed his workers that he would check in this weekend because he was working to expand his thriving business.
Whenever he was at the restaurant, staff told the Nation on Wednesday, he was generous to clients and freely mingled with the crowd, which meant that he never had any particular sitting place.
To relatives, friends and staff, Adala was jovial and never hinted at having deep personal problems. It was, therefore, shocking for them to learn that depression had driven him to suicide.
Police said the son of the late Adala Otuko, who was the first Kenyan ambassador to Russia and Ker (chairman) of the Luo Council of Elders, had shot himself in the head in his house in Nairobi and left a suicide note explaining his tragic actions.
A day after news of his death became public, the place was a beehive of activity as customers savoured roasted meat.
Outside, car wash operators were scrambling for customers. The business-as-usual mien of the premises belied the grief that came after the death of its proprietor.
In between short breaks at the busy restaurant located on Nyerere Road near Da Vundu Bar in the lakeside city, workers managed to squeeze time to pay tribute to an employer they held dear. He not only had offered them a source of income but treated them like family.
“I knew Tom through my brother Maurice who helped me secure a job at his restaurant. He interviewed me in his vehicle where he expressed concern that the business was slow. I advised him on how to improve the business by introducing the Point of Sale (POS) system,” recalled Mr Fredrick Oduor, who is one month old in the job as a cashier. The system helps seal financial accounting loopholes.
According to Mr Oduor, a Tourism and Hospitality professional who was employed at the eatery three months after graduating from Maseno University last year, Adala was to visit the restaurant this weekend.
“He was planning to expand the premises to accommodate the growing number of customers. He was to come next week and had alerted us that we would have a meeting,” said Mr Oduor.
Mr Jack Ralik, a chef, knew Mr Adala way before he set up the hotel on October 22, 2023.
Mr Ralik was working at Adala’s Backyard joint in Nairobi’s Kilimani Estate before it closed its doors. He was the only chef who prepared special meals for him.
“He loved nyama choma, fried matumbo (tripe) , chicken and fish,” said Mr Ralik.
Mr Ralik added: “It appeared strange to us that, while he used to visit every weekend from Nairobi previously, this time round it took more than two months before he came back.”
According to the police, Adala had been battling depression for some time.
Wife and child support
Former KTN journalist Saddique Shaban reported that three-quarters of Adala’s salary was being deducted from his payroll for child support without a court order. The journalist is questioning who in the administrative hierarchy at NIS authorized this deduction without a court order. Adala’s estranged wife, Habiba Sebi, is also a senior NIS officer at the government’s intelligence agency. Adala had reported his failed marriage to his friends, leading him to seek medical help.
But for the staff at this restaurant, his demeanour did not portray one who was suffering.
They described Adala as jovial, but very secretive, perhaps because of the nature of his job and, therefore, did not share much with his subordinates.
“Alikuwa anatolea watu form sana akiwa area na kupatia watu thao thao (When he was around, he would really spoil his customers and freely dished out thousand-shilling notes to anyone who asked),” said Mr Oduor.
Another worker, Ms Cynthia Nyateng, said her boss had made friends from all walks of life and whom he would treat generously during the weekends he was around.
“He never sat at one particular spot in the hotel; he would join his clientele anywhere because he was a man of the people,” said Ms Nyateng.
Mr Ralik described Adala as friendly, understanding and accommodative. Their boss, he said, respected staff regardless of their position and he would come through for them whenever they faced financial difficulties.
He nurtured young people from various estates in Kisumu who had a talent in art and music.
Adala is said to have shot himself dead inside his residence in Kirichwa Villas in Kilimani Estate in Nairobi.
Police officers who visited the scene said they established that the 54-year-old shot himself using a pistol on the right side of the head. The bullet exited on his left side.
His nephew, Mr Francis Oduor, who lived with him, informed the police that he last saw his uncle on June 3 around 10pm as he went to sleep in his room upstairs. His nephew said Adala also retired to bed in his room downstairs.
On Tuesday, he woke up to do his morning chores. Shortly thereafter, their house-help, Ms Caroline Amanda, arrived and prepared breakfast for them.
But Adala was nowhere to be seen. Mr Oduor climbed upstairs to check on him in his room but he was not there.
He asked their watchman, Maurice, who was at the gate, if Adala had gone outside. But the watchman said he had not, according to the police report.
After checking the compound, Mr Oduor found Adala lying dead inside the servant quarters.
It was then that senior police officers and NIS officials were alerted and they visited the scene.
The police recovered a Glock 19 pistol serial no ZKG 589 with one spent cartridge and a magazine loaded with three rounds.
In his bedroom, another spare magazine was recovered loaded with 13 rounds and a suicide note (written on a black note book) placed on the bed, according to the police report.
The body was taken to Lee Funeral Home and an inquest file has been opened.
A wealthy Pakistani businessman is under investigations following reports that he is involved in money laundering and drug trafficking.
Authorities say the billionaire has gone underground after learning that his immigration status in the country is also on the radar of investigators.
Hussain Jarrar, 48, who arrived in the country in 2006 and was later employed as a sales motor vehicle agent is now suddenly a billionaire.
The Pakistani is also being probed for forgery after it emerged he had obtained a Kenyan identity card fraudulently.
“Previously, Jarrar was a director at Al- Husnain Motors Limited and obtained three of his previous work permits from February 18, 2006 to February 2, 2013. Later the directors of Al-Husnain Motors split and hence the establishment of Al-Shujah Motors Limited by Jarrar,” said part of a letter by one of the State agencies probing the matter, dated May 19, 2022.
Work permit
Officials say despite being a foreigner, Jarrar declared that he is Kenyan in one of the companies, Silver Dash Limited, which he runs with his two children.
He had then unsuccessfully applied for renewal of his work permit as a foreigner. The application for renewal was rejected.
Jarrar’s work permit expired last year in November and he has since then been operating from his hideout in the city using proxies to fix his deals, officials said.
Preliminary investigations have also revealed that the foreigner is linked to a high-ranking politician who has been helping him renew his documents in vain.
The officials say Jarrar, who comes from Pakistan near the Iran border, could be part of an international money laundering ring.
He is currently building a multi-million-shiling mall Al-Shujah Mall, in Kilimani adjacent to Yaya Centre and has also bought two prime parcels of land in the same area.
Among the agencies pursuing him include the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), the Financial Reporting Centre (FRC), the Immigration Department and the National Intelligence Service (NIS). “He was employed as a sales official at Al-Husnain Motors in the city where he earned Sh70,000 up to 2013. He can’t explain how he made the billions he is splashing around,” said an official aware of the probe.
In another letter dated May 2022, the agency says Jarrar is currently a director at Al-Shujah Motors Limited which was established in 2012 and started operations of selling second-hand vehicles in January 2013. In June 2016, he made an application as a permanent resident through lawful status which was pending for five years, according to the correspondence.
In June 2021, he applied for his citizenship by lawful residence when it was established he had an adverse notice due to his suspicious involvement with Iranians.
