White woman led the attack, says Westgate survivor

“I saw a light-skinned woman with a black money bag around her waist. She shot at us, ignoring screams from the children.”

Bernard Wambua of Radio Africa Group is one of the lucky survivors of the Westgate Mall terrorist attack, escaping without a scratch.

He, together with about 50 colleagues from East FM were in the parking lot organising a cooking competition for children. Most of the children were accompanied by their families.

According to Mr Wambua, all was going well until 11.50am. “We had just finished preparing a table where the children were to do the cooking shortly before noon when we heard gunshots. At first we thought it was a robbery but the shots became louder as though whoever was shooting was headed in our direction.

“Two men came to the parking lot. They were in jeans and T-shirts, one with an Arabic headscarf wrapped around his head. In their hands were huge guns and I could see pistols sticking out of their pockets. They started shooting at everyone and everything.

“Most of us hid under the table we had been preparing. That did not deter the gunmen and they just kept shooting.

“That’s when the light skinned woman joined them. She too had a gun. She would point at things and the men shot at them. She shot at a gas cylinder we were using for the competition which resulted in a small fire. Luckily, it did not spread. She blasted several microwaves too.

Anyone who screamed was fired at. They were unforgiving.

“They left the parking lot when it was silent, maybe they thought they had killed everyone. Just in front of me was Mitul Shah, the director of sales and marketing at Bidco, the competition organisers. He was dead. And there was a teenage girl by my side. She was shot in the stomach. There was terrifying silence. A strong smell of blood. Many dead people.”

Among those killed at the event was Ruhila Adatia-Sood, a popular media personality in Kenya who presented several shows at Radio Africa Group. Rajan Solanki, who founded the popular food blog Pika Chakula, was also killed.

Like Wambua’s, there are several other witness accounts of a female attacker. Interior Cabinet Secretary Joseph ole Lenku has said it could be a man in disguise.

However, 29-year-old Samantha Lewthwaite, a Briton who is a high-ranking member of Al-Shabaab, is suspected to be behind the attack.

In his address to the nation on Tuesday, President Uhuru Kenyatta confirmed he had received intelligence reports pointing at her involvement.

Also, a Twitter account suspected to be run by Al-Shabaab posted: “We now have permission to disclose the involvement of Samantha Lewthwaite, Sherafiyah. She successfully oveseered the mission.”