MPs decide to investigate Westgate after meeting Kenya's Spy Chief

Chairman of the Defence Committee Ndung’u Gethenji PHOTO: STANDARD

By ALPHONCE SHIUNDU

MPs have agreed to form a joint committee to investigate the Westgate Mall attack.

The lawmakers made the decision at a closed-door meeting at which they admonished Kenya’s spy chief for what they believe are intelligence gaps and security lapses which allowed the terrorists to plan and execute the bloody terror attack that has left dozens killed and hundreds injured.

The lawmakers agreed that the Defence and Foreign Relations committee together with the one on Administration and National Security should hold a joint inquiry to audit the gaps in the country’s security apparatus. Gethenji addressed a news conference at which he said the time for rescue was over and “it is now time for people to take responsibility” and to audit the security systems in the country.

“We will carry out thorough, unforgiving and incisive investigation. Those responsible should be brought to book,” said the chairman of the Defence Committee Ndung’u Gethenji (Tetu MP), just seconds after the committee dismissed the Director General of the National Intelligence Service, Michael Gichangi, after a brief closed-door meeting.

The MPs who had planned to have the meeting open to the public, suddenly decided to have behind closed doors. They even tied a chain around the door to ensure that only committee members were allowed into the meeting venue which was the Small Dining room at the Main Parliament building in Nairobi.

The spy chief was shielded from the media and smuggled into the meeting room through the restaurant. He had arrived at Parliament buildings with a full team of top bosses at the NIS, but when the Senior Deputy Clerk Michael Sialai came to pick him for the meeting with MPs, the spy chief went in with just two people. The other bigshots were kept outside.

The MPs said the NIS boss had asked to be excused to go back and keep an eye on the on-going forensic investigations at the Westgate mall.

It was expected that Gichangi would table the details of the terror attack to the MPs and show where the failure happened, but that will now have to happen in the joint committee hearings.

Gethenji added that the issues on the agenda –about the military operation in Somalia and the consequent backlash on Kenya’s security—had to be shelved to allow the Director General to continue with the hunt and investigations on the Westgate attack.

“Terrorism is an act of exploitation. It exploits weaknesses in the system. The fact that terrorists were able to attack Westgate Mall could mean that there could be gaps and openings in the security system,” said Gethenji.

The NIS boss and other top officials in the country’s security will also be made to appear before the committee to shed light on what they knew prior to the attack, and what action, if any, did they take to ensure the attack doesn’t happen.

Gethenji called on the public to also volunteer any information to help in fixing the gaps in the country’s security.

He said MPs have now decided to take all the attacks seriously to ensure they do not happen again.

“The time has come for Kenyans to introspect and validate the life of every Kenyan wherever they are,” added the committee chairman alluding to the deluge of sympathy and support that accompanied the Westgate attack, whereas the attacks in Mandera, Wajir and Garissa are simply ignored.

Sources in Parliament learned that the officers at the NIS were angry that the lawmakers had accused and judged them in public without even waiting for an audit of the security systems in the country to find out where the gaps were.

The quest for a public meeting came just a day after Nairobi Senator Mike Sonko told the Senate that he had filed reports of prior attacks with the police but nothing had been done.

“Everything will be done in the open. There’s nothing that we’re going to hide. These people are paid using public funds,” said Bare Shill as he hinted to public hearings during the committee sessions.

The consumers of intelligence briefs include the Inspector General of Police David Kimaiyo and all the members who sit in the National Security Council. The National Security Council is chaired by the President. The Deputy President, the Cabinet secretaries for defence and internal security; the Attorney General; the Chief of Defence Forces, the spy chief and the police boss all sit in the NSC.

It is the job of the council to “assess and appraise the objectives, commitments and risks to the Republic in respect of actual and potential national security capabilities.”

NIS and the police have been at loggerheads whenever crises occur in the country. The NIS say they provide intelligence, but the police say the intelligence is usually not actionable.