William Ruto issues stern warning to terrorists

Security officers inside the Joy of Jesus Church where two armed terrorists entered and started shooting indiscriminately, killing two worshipers on the spot in Likoni, Mombasa last week. Several others were seriously wounded and taken to various hospitals. [PHOTO: GIDEON MAUNDU/STANDARD]

By BENARD SANGA

Mombasa, KENYA: An improvised explosive device he was handling killed a suspected terrorist in a house in Pangani, Nairobi early on Sunday as Deputy President William Ruto toured Likoni in Mombasa where gunmen killed six worshippers at a church last weekend.

Speaking a few metres from the Joy of Jesus Church, where terrorists massacred six worshippers and maimed many others last Sunday, Ruto warned terrorists and their accomplices that the Government would hunt them down.

“We will hunt you down, torment you on earth and when you die you will burn in hell,” said Ruto, adding that political and religious leaders supporting jihadist movements in the coast region will not be spared.

During a security meeting on Saturday at the Mombasa County Commissioner Nelson Marwa’s office, senior security officials briefed the Deputy President on security at the coast and the tentacles of the terror network in Kenya’s towns and cities.

He was also told of the alleged mastermind of the March 23 attack on the church in Likoni.

Ruto said police would not hesitate to storm any mosque or church used by religious fundamentalists to incite and sow terrorism and hatred.

Mombasa Governor Ali Hassan Joho and other leaders accompanied Ruto.

The Deputy President spoke a day after meeting top security officials in Mombasa where he was reportedly supplied with a dossier on the scope of Al-Qaeda and Al-Shabaab’s networks in Kenya.

Ruto warned that police would not hesitate to take action against groups and individuals using mosques to radicalise the youths and spark religious hatred.

He said the Government would use force where necessary to root out the jihadist movement in coast, blamed for recent terror attacks.

POLITICAL STATUS

“No one will be spared in this fight, regardless of his political or religious status,” he warned. Ruto also said the Government would use any weapons at its disposal to protect Kenyans’ freedom of worship and asked Muslim leaders to lead from the front in the fight against terrorism.

“The right to worship is guaranteed in the Constitution. The Government will use any force and weapon at its disposal to make sure that that right is not infringed by terrorists or criminal groups shielding itself in any religion,” he said.

Ruto said terrorists “who shoot innocent people should expect to be met with similar force”, signalling his support for the shoot-to-kill order issued by Marwa.

Ruto, however, added that the police are fully aware of “the use of weapons as prescribed in the law”.

Three hooded gunmen stormed the Joy in Jesus Church on March 23 and shot at worshippers indiscriminately, killing six people and injuring 18 others in what police now believe was an act of terror.

The injured, including an 11-month old baby Satrin Osinya, who still has a bullet lodged in his brain, are still admitted in various hospitals.

Others have since been discharged from the Coast General Hospital for lack of funds to buy medicine and/or hire specialised doctors to attend to them.

Mombasa County Executive in charge of Health Binti Omar on Saturday said though the county announced a waiver, “the victims were supposed to buy some other medicines not found at the facility”.

Church leaders said the deceased would be removed from Coast General Hospital Mortuary on Wednesday and transported to their rural homes for burial.

Most of those who lost their lives, according to the hospital records, hail from Western Kenya, particularly Busia County.

Yesterday Ruto said the Government had donated Sh2 million to cater for the victims’ medical bills and burial expenses for those killed in the attack.

Joho also announced that the county had donated Sh1 million to the kitty while Kenya Chamber of Commerce Mombasa branch Chairman James Mureu also said he had donated Sh50,000.

 The funds will be available at the county commissioner’s office as from today, said Ruto.

GUNNED DOWN

Police on Saturday announced that two of the three suspects who were part of the group that attacked the church had been gunned down, while the third suspect escaped with gunshot wounds.

Ruto said the hunt for the third suspect was going on, but warned that the fight against the terrorists’ network would not end there.

Security officials said radical Muslim clerics were using mosques as training grounds for radical youths and were getting protection from political leaders opposed to the crackdowns.

On February 2, police raided Musa Mosque in the sprawling Majengo area of Mombasa to flush out alleged jihadists who were holding a convention. Five people, including a police officer, died of wounds they sustained in the raid.

Mombasa County Commissioner Nelson Marwa has since reiterated the Government’s resolve to shut down mosques spreading radical Islamic ideologies in the county.

The raid on the Musa Mosque was criticised by local politicians led by Mvita MP Abdulswamad Nassir and Mombasa Senator Hassan Sarai who termed it barbaric.

Yesterday Ruto put the county’s political leaders on notice, warning that the Government would not spare any one regardless of his political status who supports radicalisation of youths.

“Muslim leaders should be at the forefront. I wonder why politicians or religious leaders are supporting these murderers and looking for adherents or followers from people coming these Satanic acts,” said Ruto who was accompanied by over 15 MPs and senators to visit the church.