Westgate rumours mill in overdrive as State remains guarded

By CYRUS OMBATI

Nairobi; Kenya: The secrecy that has shrouded the handling of the Westgate terrorist attack continues to raise eyebrows in the public sphere.

Authorities have been guarded with information and even on the few occasions they have come out to address the media, they have left more questions than answers.

Lack of consistent and regular briefings has created room for rumours to swirl. Journalists were kept away in the early stages of the operation – ostensibly for their own safety – but days after the siege ended, access is still denied. Among the worst kept secrets is the massive looting of businesses inside the mall.

Two weeks after heavily armed gunmen stormed the shopping complex, leaving over 60 people dead, a number of questions remain unanswered.

For instance, Kenyans expected to be informed about the identities of the attackers, but this is yet to be done. Police say they are still investigating the incident.

The authorities have also not explained the whereabouts of the bodies of the five terrorists said to have been killed by security agencies. Police informed the public that the first suspect died in hospital as he received treatment from gunshot wounds.

An AK47 rifle was recovered from him during the Saturday evening clash, hours after the attack was staged.

Details of the said weapon are yet to be made public but there are claims that it belongs to one of the Kenyan security agencies.

More than a week after foreign experts joined the probe, no results have been made public as promised by President Uhuru Kenyatta, who pledged that the world would be informed on the progress of the investigations.

FBI agents – along with investigators from Britain, Canada, Israel and Germany – are here to investigate the crime scene.