Makueni County security boss urges chiefs to use social media to fight crime
Makueni County Commissioner Ms Pauline Dola (centre) leads a team of top security officials in the county to a meeting with chiefs at Wote Town on April 7, 2016. She urged the chiefs to join social media networks to share information to tame crime. PHOTO | PIUS MAUNDU | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
- She noted that citizens relied on online sites to communicate and urged chiefs and their assistants to join the league of social media users especially on Twitter so as to share and receive information faster thus acting on situations with speed.
- She lauded Chief Francis Kariuki of Lanet in Nakuru County who has earned local and international admiration for using Twitter to share information on events in his area, for having realized the power of the social networks in enhancing his work.
Makueni County Commissioner Pauline Dola has urged chiefs and their assistants to embrace technology and use the digital space in a bid to win war on crime.
Addressing the administrators on Thursday at Wote Town, Ms Dola said that social media sites have turned out to be reliable sources of gathering and distributing information.
She noted that citizens relied on online sites to communicate and urged chiefs and their assistants to join the league of social media users especially on Twitter so as to share and receive information faster thus acting on situations with speed.
“Unless we involve everybody we are not going to get anywhere in fighting insecurity,” Ms Dola told the administrators during a seminar on the use of citizens to tame crime.
She added: “We should use Twitter to share information about incidences such that the information reaches security agents quickly.”
She reassured the administrators that they should not fear that working with the citizens would mean that the citizens would usurp their powers as chiefs.
To chiefs who will not be able to tap to the sophisticated media, Ms Dola hinted, risk facing the sack.
“We need to wake up and for those who would be reluctant, we are going to throw them into the dustbin,” she said, alluding to their being termed redundant.
She lauded Chief Francis Kariuki of Lanet in Nakuru County who has earned local and international admiration for using Twitter to share information on events in his area, for having realized the power of the social networks in enhancing his work.
“In a month’s time we are going to invite the tweeting chief from Nakuru County to train chiefs on how to tweet,” said Ms Dola.
Addressing the same meeting, Francis Sang from the Office of the President called on residents to play an active role in fighting insecurity by sharing information with administrators and security agents.
“Once you sense something is suspicious, it is imperative that you report it to authorities before it grows into a security scare,” said Mr Sang.
