Let’s do more to secure malls

What you need to know:

  • Malls in particular — and other soft targets — should always be on high alert because they remain high-value targets for terrorists.
  • Some malls rely largely on outside air being piped in, which makes chemical weapon attacks easy. One Nairobi mall’s ventilation system is easily accessible from the roof, yet the guards do not seem to mind people standing next to it. That should send chills down our spines.

Looking back at Saturday, 21 September, 2013, we can recall how we watched in horror as the story of Westgate unfolded before our eyes.

First came reports of armed gunmen, then gradually we learnt that it was a hostage situation. Plumes of smoke followed as speculation mounted as to exactly what was happening inside the building.

The attack was a blow to our image as an undisturbed isle in a stormy ocean. We were savagely woken up from our idyllic dream. Al-Shabaab had struck us at home, and in the capital, ruthlessly executing mass murder.

We were ensnared in this war without aims or clear ends or even demarcated sides. In the course of the next year, Nairobi became a place where bombs went off, where every entrance was manned by heavy security personnel, and a cursory pat-down was mandatory where more than two people were gathered.

Buses and bars had been bombed before, but nothing like the cynical sealing up of a building and the nihilistic murder of innocents had ever been witnessed.

But buses and bars are cheap targets, poor men’s targets even. The terrorists targeted perhaps the most cosmopolitan spot you could pick in the capital, a place where you could get someone from every faith and several races, as well as various nationalities. It was a calculated move to get as many people as possible and as much international attention as possible.

Cities, and Nairobi in particular, offer a better return on investment for terrorists. They are more crowded and various media houses have their correspondents and cameras around. Getting the message out is easy. Terror works best where there are more people and in our war without clear frontlines, cities are the battleground.

The 21st century will be one in which urban guerillas attack densely populated areas. It will be extremely loud and incredibly close when they strike.

HIGH ALERT

Malls in particular — and other soft targets — should always be on high alert because they remain high-value targets for terrorists. They are easy to access by road, are lightly guarded, have a high concentration of people and, due to multiple entrances and exits, are perfect for sieges like the one at Westgate.

With the high number of visitors, anonymity is almost guaranteed. It is easy to scout a mall, and Al-Shabaab militants conducted a thorough surveillance of Westgate before the attack, posing as window-shoppers.

Malls are offensive to the Sunni terrorists we currently face. They symbolise the zenith of the consumerist culture that offends the sensibilities of arch-jihadists like Ayman al Zawahiri since they supposedly corrupt souls.

Jihadists are motivated in large part by the rejection of consumerism. The most bombed places in Iraq, particularly during the first Sunni-Shia wars, were market places.

Yet our malls remain poorly guarded, mainly for economic reasons. If we completely secure them, we will greatly reduce footfall, which would defeat the purpose of having them in the first place.

A mall is designed to tempt undecided shoppers into impulse buying. Still, we need to balance economic concerns with security.

Some do not even have whistles to raise the alarm and the policemen stationed in malls are mainly outside banking halls. It is time to have a conversation on whether armed guards should be standard practice.

Some malls rely largely on outside air being piped in, which makes chemical weapon attacks easy. One Nairobi mall’s ventilation system is easily accessible from the roof, yet the guards do not seem to mind people standing next to it. That should send chills down our spines.

Better inspection of people with coats is also required. On several occasions I have walked into malls wearing a coat but not once have I been asked to remove it, which should become standard practice.

In addition, people using wheelchairs should be intensely scrutinised because they can be used to smuggle in weapons.

At the end of the day, our most effective defence against terrorists is getting rid of guns. Our malls are most vulnerable to armed gunmen, who are the hardest to stop. Our only hope against them is limiting access to guns and ammunition.

Kenya has between 530,000 and 680,000 firearms in civilian hands, according to a 2012 report on small arms. That is several hundred thousand arms too many. The report also noted that one in 15 Kenyans has been the victim of a crime featuring an armed attacker.

More importantly, security forces should be easily able to operate a kill switch on communication in certain areas on short notice.

Reports that the Westgate terrorists were receiving orders via mobile phone and even buying airtime to call their masters in Somalia hours into the attack should be a damning indictment on our security forces.

It is disheartening that these religious mercenaries did not need specialised telecommunication equipment to communicate and continued to do so when the government is empowered to stop this through the Communications Authority.