Parliamentary Committee on National Security and Defence to summon all security chiefs over Westgate Mall attack

By CYRUS OMBATI and GEOFFREY MOSOKU

The joint Parliamentary Committee on National Security and Defence says it will take at least one month to unravel the events surrounding the Westgate Mall attack.

The two committees Tuesday met at Parliament Buildings and resolved to summon all security chiefs and relevant government officers.

Among those to appear before the team are Cabinet Secretaries Amina Mohamed (Foreign Affairs), Joseph ole Lenku (Interior) and Raychelle Omamo (Defence).

Others are Director-General of NIS Michael Gichangi, Chief of Defence Forces Julius Karangi, Inspector-General of Police David Kimaiyo and CID Director Ndegwa Muhoro. 

The committee will also summon officials from the Ministry of Immigration and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees as their mandate will extend to looking into the status of refugee camps and registration of foreigners in the country.

“We will also be inviting members of the public to give us information that could help us understand the events surrounding the attack,” Ndung’u Githinji said, the co-chair of the joint committee.

Apart from sitting in Nairobi, the committee will hold public sessions in Wajir, Mandera, Garissa and Mombasa, which have been hit by terrorist attacks in the past following Kenya’s incursion into Somalia last year.

The committee will also look into allegations of looting by security forces involved in the Westgate Mall operation and will invite business owners who lost property. 

On Tuesday, Inspector-General of Police David Kimaiyo asked those whose relatives are missing to report to the City Mortuary at 9am.

“We need blood relatives to come forward to help identify the missing persons,” he said yesterday.

 Some 39 people have been recorded as missing following the four-day siege at the mall.

Among those missing is a lieutenant who was killed in the siege that followed the terrorist attack.

Recovery efforts are on-going at the site of the attack.