A video has emerged showing one of President Uhuru Kenyatta’s close protection bodyguards frisking National Assembly Speaker Justin Muturi as he attempted to approach the Head of State.
The two were at Parliament Buildings as President Kenyatta prepared to leave the National Prayer Breakfast.
Only Kenyans with a keen eye were able to catch the action as the security officer patted Muturi’s pockets.
The speaker who is third in line in the country’s power structure was seen fondling his pockets which might have triggered the frisking.
According to presidential security protocol, everyone who interacts with the Head of State must be screened and cleared in advance.
The increased alertness was likely triggered by a series of security lapses in President Kenyatta’s security team.
Uhuru’s close protection bodyguards are supposed to minimize any exposure to threats through appropriate planning, situation awareness and reaction.
Where threats are manifested, the officers are expected to focus on Public Order Management basic tactics by minimizing the impact on the president by way of extraction from the threat environment.
Where the only option to achieve this is to negate the threat, this must be done discreetly and with minimal appropriate use of force, such as how Speaker Muturi was frisked without anyone noticing.
While it may appear that being a GSU G Company officer is exciting, they spend long hours scanning crowds for suspicious activity and are always on high alert.
The GSU and Recce teams have a lot of experience with VIP security, but when VIPs deviate from protocol and start engaging with the public, close body protection becomes a nightmare.
To avoid exhaustion, the president has more than 300 professionally trained police working in shifts at his disposal, especially when he has a busy schedule.