The men who form Kenya’s first line of defence against the Somali militant group al-Shabaab wear trainers or rubber tyre sandals, bucket hats, and mismatched, hand-me-down fatigues.
They are Kenya Police Reservists, also known as Home Guards.
But they’re also goat herders, retired civil servants, and casually employed locals who are paid a meager US$90 monthly stipend for their service. Anyone but active police and military professionals, really.
Many of them hold their battered 1980s service rifles awkwardly, as if they’re not quite sure how to handle them.
This ragtag bunch of reservists has become a cornerstone of Kenya’s new security strategy for its restive northeast, put in place after the devastating al-Shabaab attack on Garissa University College last year that left 148 people dead.