Long wait for answers as probe sheds no light into deadly raid

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What happened on the day, exactly one year ago today, terrorists invaded Westgate Mall? What were the security lapses that created loopholes for the attackers to invade the mall? What were the operational lapses in the security response to the attack? And how can these lapses be avoided in the future?

The above questions can only be answered by a dispassionate probe into the Westgate Mall terrorist attack and the security response that followed.

On Tuesday October 1, 2013, President Kenyatta attended a national inter-faiths prayer meeting at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre in Nairobi for victims of the September 21, 2013 terrorist attack. On the podium, the President promised to set up a commission of inquiry into the four-day siege at the mall with specific focus on “where there were lapses” and how these lapses “can be avoided in the future”. One year down the line, no such commission has been set up as victims of the attack and the entire country grapple with these fundamental questions.

On his own admission when he met officers from the Recce Company on October 6, 2013 in their Ruiru base, the President said the rescue operation had been bungled and repeated his pledge that thorough investigations would be conducted.

On day two of the siege, September 22, 2013, the President asked Kenyans to continue “waging a relentless moral war as our forces conduct the physical battle. We shall triumph. As I asked you yesterday, please continue helping, and continue praying”.

In standing with victims of the attack, Kenyans did not disappoint. They donated more blood than was required. They raised more than Sh60 million in aid of victims of the attack. They pitched tent outside the mall and set up free mobile food kiosks to provide food and refreshment to the rescue team. Kenyans were solidly united in caring and giving.

In his first address to the nation on September 21, 2013, the first day of the attack, the President was categorical that everything would be done to bring perpetrators of the heinous act and their collaborators to book. “Let me make it clear. We shall hunt down the perpetrators wherever they run to. We shall get them. We shall punish them for this heinous crime.”

Inquiry necessary

A year later, just as the promise of an inquiry is yet to be fulfilled, no one – perpetrator or collaborator – has been punished for the heinous act.

Responding to enquiries from The Standard on Sunday, State House spokesperson Manoah Esipisu said: “The search for answers does not stop until one finds answers. Parliament conducted an inquiry whose recommendations it did not adopt. Departments involved have also conducted internal enquiries”.

The President’s spokesman went on to say that the Government was yet to receive results of forensic investigations from Israel and the US. Speaking to The Standard on Sunday in his personal capacity, Commission for Implementation of Constitution (CIC) Chairman Charles Nyachae said it is important that Westgate Mall attack is brought to a closure through a definitive inquiry.

For him, it does not matter whether it would be a commission of inquiry or the permanent security systems available to the Government. What is important is for Kenyans to know what exactly happened in the mall, how it came to be, whether it could have been avoided and what can be done to avert such attacks in the future. “There is no magic in a commission of inquiry. If all the questions people have can be answered through the normal investigation mechanisms why not try that route. People of Kenya deserve answers,” Nyachae said.

He added: “Most Kenyans were affected in one way or the other. I lost a friend – Peter Simani – in the attack. I used to visit the mall every weekend for a hair-cut. I have so many unanswered questions in my mind and I believe other Kenyans do as well.”

Security consultant and ex-US Marine Andrew Franklin is resolute that an inquiry is more than necessary: “How can you learn from what you have not inquired? The whole world witnessed in live camera the confusion that ensued among the security forces in the aftermath of the attack. A comprehensive inquiry and implementation of the findings would place the country in a better position to prevent, mitigate or handle similar attacks in the future.”

National Assembly Minority Leader Francis Nyenze agrees. He says the President has no choice but to honour his own promise. He said Kenyans need clear answers on how the terrorists came, whether they were actually killed and who should carry the cross for the attack.

President’s promise

“Kenyans need to clear many doubts which have lingered on. They want to know whether the terrorists escaped as it has been suggested, who blew up the mall, why Kenya Defence Forces were involved despite tremendous progress of the police and if looting took place,” Nyenze said.

He said only an independent commission of inquiry can objectively answer the questions as almost all security formations have an interest in the matter. Mr Esipisu said it is important to focus on what has happened since Westgate. “Better surveillance, improved policing, improved inter-agency coordination. Investment if security is significantly up for the first time in 20 years,” he said. Kisumu Senator Anyang’ Nyong’o does not however care whether the president forms an inquiry or not. All he is interested in is an explanation about the attack.

“How many commissions of inquiry have been formed since independence, some whose reports have never even been released to the public? And who is better placed to give explanation on the attack between outsiders and NIS, CID, military intelligence?” Nyong’o commented.

According to him, only the President can keep his promise: “It’s him who promised, not anyone else. Why should we be enslaved to his inefficiencies of having to justify an idea we never came up with in the first place?”

For Peter Aling’o of Institute for Security Studies, the commission is no longer relevant in view of the time that has lapsed and in view of what he calls “the bigger picture”.

“The answers over Westgate are to be found in the context of the bigger problem of security and terrorism in the country. They are to be found through addressing to root causes. Issues like historical injustices, dealing with minority issues, corruption, unemployment, inequality and land,” Aling’o said. National Assembly Speaker Justine Muturi says the Executive is free to set up an inquiry given that Parliament’s initiative was rejected for want of quality.

The joint report by the committees on administration and national security and defense and foreign relations was soundly defeated when it was tabled in the House in March. “The members were of the opinion that the purported investigations were wishy washy, shoddy and not conclusive. Accordingly, if the Executive were to look at the report they would not find anything to help them. It’s still open for the Executive, if they so desire, to set up an inquiry into the matter,” Muturi told The Standard on Sunday. He said the matter of the parliamentary report can only be revisited afresh after six months which lapse end of this month. Then, any MP can seek fresh investigations if they wish to.

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