Let’s direct our outrage to terrorists, not the State

When a suspected terrorist — Zahaf Bibeau, 32, — penetrated security at the Canadian Parliament and started shooting at everyone in sight within the harrowed precincts of the 155-year-old Canadian august House, the outrage of the public was not directed at the Canadian Prime Minister, the Minister for Interior, the Police Chief or any other Canadian Government official for that matter.

The public outrage at the October 22 brazen attack was appropriately directed at the person who carried out the reprehensible attack and his suspected accomplices.

Politicians in Canada’s governing and opposition parties crossed ranks and started working on stiffer “Anti-Terror” laws for their country. No Canadian had time or inclination to engage in unending blame games.

The whole country was galvanised and united in grief. The populace focused its energy on supporting Government’s efforts to tighten security.

Here in Kenya, when guns, grenades, machetes, Al Shabaab flags and terrorism training material are found in a place of worship and security agents take appropriate action to clean up the place; our politicians see an opportunity to score discounted political points.

Instead of being outraged by the malicious audacity of those desecrating places of worship with tools and implements of murder, they direct their anger at the Government and security agents.

Instead of lauding the country’s intelligence service and security agents for the discovery and recovery of the deadly cache, several politicians start an endless blame game that tries to paint the angel into the devil.

When Mombasa Senator Omar Hassan Omar, a renown leader and lawyer to boot, takes the podium and without blinking an eye blames security agents, Interior Cabinet Secretary Joseph ole Lenku and Inspector General of Police David Kimaiyo for the problem of illegal guns, grenades and other death weapons finding their way into Mosques, it becomes apparent that our problem as a country is deeper than we realise.

What logic would drive a leader of Senator Omar’s caliber to proclaim that “Mosques don’t commit crimes” in the middle of an operation that has recovered guns, grenades, machetes and other types of weapons capable of starting a small war inside a Mosque?

True, Mosques don’t commit crimes, but they surely become scenes of crime when illegal weapons are discovered in their hitherto harrowed precincts.

This reminds me of another incident that occurred in Mombasa in February this year where security agents raided then Masjid Musa Mosque and recovered guns, grenades, narcotic and CDs containing terrorism training materials.

The outrage of local politicians was the ‘desecration’ of a Mosque by “security agents who stepped on the holy mats wearing shoes.” Are you kidding? Is that the problem really? If that is so, then we live on different planets around here.

Someone out there, make me understand; how on earth can stepping on the ‘holy mat’ with shoes be the crime and defilement of a Mosque when those who stepped on that mat did so to recover weapons meant for killing innocent Kenyans—Muslims and Christians alike?

Dear Kenyans, we are in a state of war. Terrorists and their accomplices have declared war on us and we have no choice but to react in kind. It is a well-known and internationally accepted practice in a state of war to destroy armories of those seeking to harm you.

When someone stores guns, grenades, machetes, Al Shabaab flags and terrorism training material in a place of worship, he or she makes that place of worship a legitimate military target.

Those blaming security agents for the action they took in the recover of weapons in mosques should be happy that these buildings were not brought down under the doctrine of being legitimate military targets.

This brings us to last week’s early morning cold-blooded massacre of 28 innocent Kenyans by Al Shabaab militias. Following the dastardly attack on innocent Kenyans, the Government launched an immediate retaliatory response in which a hundred Al Shabaab militias were killed, their camps, vehicles and equipment destroyed.

But instead of Kenyan opposition leaders lauding KDF and the Government for this swift retaliatory move, they saw in the Mandera massacre yet another opportunity to score— yes, you guessed it right— discounted political points.

Time has come for us to stand together as a country and fight the enemy; for divided as we currently are, we strengthen and embolden those who seek to harm us.