Anti-terror officer coordinated arms smuggling in Lamu attacks, says report

A police officer at a scene of an attack in Mpeketoni, Lamu County

The police oversight authority has implicated an anti-terrorism police officer in the Mpeketoni massacre and said authorities failed to act on intelligence provided in July 2013, about 11 months before the attacks.

The just released report by the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) on Mpeketoni attacks says though the National Police Service (NPS) denied being aware of planned attacks, the National Intelligence Service (NIS) had intelligence reports on the violence. And in a damning revelation that highlights how national security has been compromised, the report claims an officer of a crack unit tasked with fighting terrorism was the one coordinating arms smuggling by the terrorists.

“It was reported an Anti-Terrorism Police Unit (ATPU) officer based at Witu was coordinating the activities of the arms smugglers, who were said to be Al-Shabaab operatives. The arms were brought in from Liboi under the protection and escort of the said officer,” the report reads.

“We reached out to NIS while compiling the report and some of its intelligence reports detailed specifically that affiliate members of a known outlawed group intended to carry out attacks on particular communities in Lamu County. Later, intelligence further identified individuals who were to perpetrate the attacks as well as locations and communities who were the targets,” explained IPOA Chairperson Macharia Njeru.

The report further adds that by early this year, the threats of possible attacks had heightened following the sighting of militia in Panda Nguo Forest in Lamu.

“Similar reports continued to be received between January and June 2014 indicating the build-up and heightened activities by terrorist and other criminal elements determined to carry out attacks in Lamu,” Mr Njeru said.

CLEAR WARNINGS

He added there were clear warnings of an impending attack and definite actionable intelligence existed. “NPS did not take action or prepare to prevent the attacks. Despite this intelligence, the County Security and Intelligence Committee failed to take action to pre-empt the attack,” he said.

The report further reveals that NPS failed to act on intelligence in May, where IPOA learnt intelligence was received about an arms cache within Witu town.

The report attributes the slow response to the Mpeketoni attacks on different issues including lack of a centralised command structure.

“Prompt response failed because of conflicting orders and lack of a centralised command structure at the county level that could coordinate all the NPS resources in the region. Senior officers in Nairobi therefore played a key role in the inaction of these units or their late response,” IPOA chair explained.

He added that decision making was distorted by the over cautious approach of the commanders who were not on the ground, frightening their respective units into not responding promptly.
Under-staffing of the Mpeketoni Police Station, lack of confidence in weaponry and proper communication equipment are the other issues highlighted in the report to have contributed to slow response.

“The administration police officers do not have pocket radios or walkie- talkies. They use their personal mobile phones at their own cost. On the night of the attack, they could not use the static radio as they had to evacuate the premises. Had either the Kenya Police or the Administrative Police stations commanders had portable radios for communication, they would have had a better chance at communicating and coordinating response,” the report reads.

IPOA recommends harmonisation of the NPS command structure. “The Inspector General should appoint a single NPS county commander in all the 47 counties to coordinate effective policing by overseeing all police officers and units. He should immediately institute measures to put in place a seamless structure of the service at all levels. He should also furnish IPOA with a report on the measures taken within 90 days,” Njeru said.