This past week has clearly been 'pregnant' with news. For a columnist such a week often results in indecision as one takes their time to study and decide on what to pick from such a buffet of news as you wait for some events to stabilise. You don't want you submitted story to be overtaken by events.

In Rwanda, the senate president, Dr. Jean Damascene Ntawukuriryayo chose to resign in what appeared to be a flood of allegations of abuse of office by his colleagues during an extra ordinary sitting of the senate.

In Kenya a Facebook page "Dead Beat Kenya" that is being used to name and shame fathers who abandon their responsibility of taking care of their children dominated the news. The page went viral in a matter of days naming and shaming lots of men including politicians and local celebrities. The last I heard were threats from the 'victims' to sue the administrator of the page.

In Uganda, the much talked about tensions between President Yoweri Museveni and his Prime Minister, Amama Mbabazi took a new turn with the latter being relieved of his duties and replaced by Dr. Ruhakana Rugunda. Whether this has a key bearing on the coming 2016 elections or not is something we shall wait to see.

On the international scene, the referendum vote in United Kingdom where the Scottish people were to choose whether to break away or remain part of the United Kingdom was big news too. I stayed awake on Thursday night to keep track of the outcome and the Scottish people voted to stay with the union.

This was of interest to me particularly because in the East African region, Zanzibar has often threatened to push for a break away from mainland Tanzania. The coastal people in Kenya have also made similar demands before with the infamous 'Pwani si Kenya' talk.

In all cases the real problem is the marginalisation of these regions at the expense of the centre. Actually soon after the Scotland vote, a friend called me from UK and told me that now the real issue was whether London will meet its promises of devolving more power and finances to Scotland. Devolution is still a major talking point in Kenya as well.

In Kenya, the marginalisation of the coastal people has fed into the ambitions of Islamic fundamentalists with links to Al Shabaab fighters in Somalia. EAC members are deeply involved in the fighting Al Shabaab in Somalia and this put them in the crosshairs of the terrorists.

Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania have all had major terrorist attacks with Kenya being the most affected.

As you read this, it is already a year since the attack on Westgate shopping mall in Nairobi where over 67 lives were lost in an orgy of murder that lasted for four days. It is sad that to this day there is still no report on the Westgate Siege as it later came to be known. The families of the dead and affected are still grappling with lots of questions.

Sometime last week, news came in from Kampala that a major terrorist attack had been foiled and several suspects arrested. When this happened I saw an interesting post on social media where a friend wondered why Ugandans refuse to believe such statements from the security organs and yet if indeed an attack had happened, the same people would be pouring scorn on the security organs for not doing enough.

The above observation is hinged on trust issues. When it comes to fighting terrorism we are all expected to play a role by being vigilant and reporting any suspicions to security officials. The problem however is that sometimes the population does not trust the security people enough to cooperate with them or even believe them.

When security forces indulge in crime and corruption they erode the public trust that is crucial to solving crime and dealing with bigger issues like terrorism. On the other hand when security forces uphold professionalism and conduct several interactions with the people then trust is built and crime can better be prevented.

As we look back to a year since the Westgate attack we should evaluate the relationship between the security people and those they are supposed to protect. Where the trust is lacking, the terrorist has a starting point. We fix this and we are much safer.