This archive report was first published on 11 September 2021.
On September 11, 2001, Kenya's President Daniel arap Moi and his cabinet were in a state of high alert following the devastating World Trade Center attacks in New York.
According to former Minister of State in the Office of the President responsible for security, Julius Sunkuli, the government was briefed about the attacks and immediately put the military on the highest alert level, suspecting that the Al-Qaeda terrorists who had bombed the US embassy in Nairobi three years earlier were behind the attacks.
President Moi also sent his condolences to US President George W. Bush, and intelligence sources started picking up threats to Kenya for being a US ally.
Mr Sunkuli recalled, 'We had to face the possibility of an attack.'
As the government scrambled to respond to the crisis, the focus shifted to the country's entry points, with the introduction of more thorough electronic search and frisking of individuals and cargo, as well as the importation of sophisticated gadgets.
Former Permanent Secretary in the Office of the President, Zakayo Cheruiyot, noted that the government implemented disaster preparedness after the 1998 bombing, but it was slow to take off.
Today, national security and defence consume a large proportion of the country's annual budget, with the Treasury setting aside Sh294.5 billion for the docket in the 2021/2 financial year.
