My students, most of them sweet little under-23s, laughed, hissed and howled when I told them that military chiefs had clarified that the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) soldiers who did duty at Westgate last month did not loot the ill-fated mall.
The laughter, howling and hissing grew louder when I said that the chiefs said the white bags a small group of soldiers carried out of Westgate contained water. I got the point. I could not add that the soldiers had permission to take away the water.
The point is simple, the kids told me: KDF did not own a store at Westgate from which the soldiers could have been given water for free. So if this was water, it most likely belonged to Nakumatt, the region’s most successful supermarket chain.
Poor KDF! The same chiefs said soldiers had taken Sh300 million from the shopping mall for safe keeping and that the money had been returned to the rightful owners. Of course, the revelation came after complaints were voiced about theft, not before.
RUTO SPILLS THE BEANS
But then as the chiefs were saying last week that the men in uniform had not looted, none other than the Deputy President of the Republic, Mr William Ruto, was saying it was unfortunate that members of the disciplined forces had, in fact, looted.
Good grief! I remember Defence Secretary Raychelle Omamo asking those among the public who had information about looting by soldiers to volunteer the same. Of course, Ms Omamo reminded us of the stalwart and sterling reputation of KDF.
There was just a little local difficulty with her carefully crafted statement. When the KDF stormed the Westgate all and sundry were ordered to stay 300 metres away. Then there was shooting in the mall, then burning and the collapse of part of the building.
All this while the public was some 300 metres away, cowering, taking cover and confused. It is also known that when KDF moved in, the General Service Unit (GSU), the men of the red berrets, were forced out. KDF had the run of the mall.
But, yes, the public did not let down the government. Businesspeople met at Westgate and asked questions. Deacons CEO cleverly asked how cash would have crept into the equation when KDF was exchanging fire with terrorists.
“Listen, Opash. We have a shop on the second floor. There is nothing left in the shop. Can terrorists have come to loot?” That is what an agitated friend called to tell me long before this matter went public.
And talking about terrorists, just how many attacked the mall on September 21? The initial figure given Kenyans was 10-15. Where did that figure come from? Now the figure is down to four.
ENDLESS QUESTIONS
And that raises a huge and mightily frightening question: Did four men armed with AK-47s hold off Kenya’s security forces for four days? That does not add up, especially when one recalls that on that Saturday, Kenyans were informed that the GSU had confined the attackers to a section of the mall.
Another question: Why then were the GSU not allowed to finish the job? Yet another question: Why did KDF storm in with armoured vehicles?
Now when KTN’s John Allan Namu and Mohammed Ali of “Inside Story” and “Jicho Pevu” respectively ask these questions, Inspector-General of Police David Kimaiyo threatens to arrest them for spreading propaganda and inciting Kenyans against the authorities.
These threats will not answer this question: Why did KDF storm the mall when the GSU had cornered the terrorists? Even if police arrest all investigative journalists, Kenyans will not be convinced that KDF can take orders from Mr Kimaiyo.
The reading, viewing and listening public knows that enter KDF stage right and exit police stage left! The thinking public knows this is what happened at Westgate. What it does not know is why it took KDF another three days to finish a job GSU appeared about to accomplish?
For Mr Kimaiyo, however, Namu and Ali are not his meanest or greatest challenge unless, of course, he does not know what ails Nairobi and the rest of the country. The reporting of the two or the entire media will not cause Kenyans sleepless nights.
It is the inability of security agencies to protect Kenyans and their livelihoods and the inability of Vigilance House to act on intelligence reports, and hence the Westgate scandal, that worries Kenyans. Just ask the kids.
Opanga is a media consultant opanga@diplomateastafrica.com
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