David Kimaiyo and Julius Karangi failed in their duty and must step down
Soldiers outside the Westgate Mall in Nairobi on September 26, 2013. FILE PHOTO |
What you need to know:
- The honourable thing is for Kimaiyo and Karangi to step down to close this sordid chapter in our traumatised life as a country.
- Soldiers were clearly unsuited for this battle. They were trained, but not for hostage rescue situations.
Yesterday we mourned the dead and celebrated the heroes.
Today we condemn the men who slept on the job. Step forward Gen Julius Karangi and Mr David Kimaiyo.
We hope by now Kenya’s leadership has had a chance to watch the documentary that chronicles the terror visited upon innocent civilians at the Westgate Mall.
The footage and the accounts of the survivors are a tale of a nation without a security system. A helpless people at the mercy of unfeeling killers.
Minutes after the terrorists struck, the security chiefs told Kenyans that the situation was under control, and that elite forces had been deployed to rescue people trapped inside and contain terrorists.
For four hours, the public was fed on intermittent messages of hope and heroism by our forces.
Then comes this video and survivors’ accounts and it emerges that Kenyans were lied to. By the time the security forces entered the mall, the last civilian had been killed.
Soldiers were clearly unsuited for this battle. They were trained, but not for hostage rescue situations. The footage shows them going in and shooting aimlessly at anything that moved.
It is public knowledge that the 3,500 square foot mall was covered by more than 100 cameras, and that live footage was available to both the police and military at a remote site in Hurlingham.
In the light of this, the decision to deploy the military made no sense. And the delay in the deployment of the GSU Recce Company tactical team which was assembled at Westgate was an act of utter incompetence.
The fact is that by the time the GSU entered Westgate, the massacre was over. Al-Shabaab had accomplished its evil mission.
These acts call for accountability. And the honourable thing is for Kimaiyo and Karangi to step down to close this sordid chapter in our traumatised life as a country.
Leaders across the country are unanimous that the security agencies failed to respond appropriately to this attack and subsequent ones that have claimed close to 200 lives in the last one year alone.
IRREDEEMABLY INCOMPETENT
The leaders we talked to on Friday concurred that one year down the line, the gaps that led to the attack and the eventual botched rescue mission should have seen some heads roll even as the country picked its pieces and forged strategies to counter terror in future.
Mr Richard Thuta, an Israeli-trained homeland security and terror expert, said the Kenyan forces were portrayed as irredeemably incompetent in pre-empting, preventing and mitigating a terror attack.
“It also exposed weaknesses in our intelligence system and coordination between the various security arms. Instead of complementing each other, they competed against each other,” said Mr Thuta.
He called for the amendment of the NIS law to empower the service to act on its intelligence. “Intelligence should not be a mere conveyor of reports. The world over, intelligence agencies are empowered to act on their findings.”
As the postmortem examination of the attack took centre stage on Friday, resignation calls were heard from both the Cord and Jubilee coalitions, civil society and the clergy.
ODM secretary general Anyang’ Nyong’o led the calls, saying “someone must pay” for their role or lack of it in the attack and the eventual botched rescue mission.
“In any civilised society the two gentlemen who bungled a security operation of such magnitude should have resigned by now. They did not offer any explanation or apology to Kenyans for what happened,” Prof Nyong’o said.
He said there had never been a comprehensive report on the causes and any measures to prevent future attacks.
“The military obstructed a rescue mission by police and Kenyans lost lives after the bungled intervention,” said the Kisumu senator.
(IN PICTURES: The Westgate mall attack)
Senior counsel Paul Muite said: “We are terribly exposed and vulnerable. The President has no choice really but to continue building the confidence of the country on this matter after the exit of Maj-Gen Michael Gichangi, former NIS boss.”
Mr Muite singled out Mr Kimaiyo for the lapse of security in the last two years, saying the army had done well except on the Westgate matter “in which they were duped into intruding.”
“I was very surprised when Kimaiyo was appointed IG. The impression I made of him when he appeared before me as the chair of the committee on the administration of justice during the Artur Brothers saga is that here was a completely incompetent and clueless man. His performance to date has since confirmed my fears.”
Also calling for the overhaul of the security forces were MPs Peter Weru (Mathira), Stephen Ngare (Ndia), Ben Momanyi (Borabu), Chris Wamalwa (Kiminini) and Timothy Bosire (Kitutu Masaba).
Mr Ngare said Mr Kimaiyo should resign like the former Director of National Intelligence Service, Maj-Gen Gichangi and not wait to be forced out of office. “We need another officer with new ideas on how to handle insecurity.”
Mr Weru said he was perturbed that one year down the line, Kenyans cannot still put a hand on what happened at Westgate or in places like Lamu. “In as much as the office holders need fair hearing, we need to change things, starting by sending all those responsible home.”
Mr Momanyi said Mr Kimaiyo and Gen Karangi “should have resigned like yesterday for failing to curb insecurity in the country”.
Mr Wamalwa said Mr Kimaiyo and Gen Karangi owed Kenyans an explanation of what transpired during the Westgate attack.
“It is a shame that there is no report that has come up with findings from the incident which happened one year ago,” said the Kiminini MP.
Law Society of Kenya chairman Eric Mutua said if the two would not resign, they could be removed from office through a petition, the courts or public agitation.
However, he said a petition could be blocked at Parliament, which is controlled by the government, while the courts would pose the challenge of limited evidence.
“The only workable route is that of public protest, but it is also likely to be undermined by the division along ethnic and party lines,” said Mr Mutua.
International Centre for Policy and Conflict executive director Ndung’u Wainaina faulted the government for its failure to constitute a commission of inquiry to get to the bottom of the matter.
“As a country, we are stuck. No investigation, no answers to questions like the level of negligence on the part of any security agency, or to what extent our internal security systems failed.”
Kenya National Muslims Advisory Council (Kemnac) chairman Sheikh Juma Ngao and Muslims for Human Rights executive director Khelef Khalifa said the degree of incompetence within the security forces had reached worrisome levels.
But several pro-government leaders defended the two and said there were ongoing efforts to help the country out of the security hole it had found itself in.
Elgeyo-Marakwet Senator Kipchumba Murkomen said: “My focus is not on the people in charge of our security, even though that is important. I would like to see a change in the hardware.
“We should equip our officers better. We should also have better training, increased surveillance along our borders, and the immigration department ought to work closely with the security officers.”
IMMIGRATION A MAJOR MISSING LINK
The chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Defence and Foreign Affairs, Mr Ndung’u Gethenji, said the changes at the National Intelligence Service and the Immigration Department were steps in the right direction.
Mr Gethenji said a joint report by his committee and that of Administration and National Security chaired by Tiaty MP Asman Kamama had identified Immigration as a major missing link in the war against terror.
“We proposed that future heads of immigration must be retired military officers. This would beef up military intelligence along our borders,” said Mr Gethenji.
He said his committee had taken a keen interest in the new biometric registration of persons to curb infiltration by foreigners who come to recruit local youth.
“This is a priority project. We must guard ourselves from foreign criminals,” he said.
Kiambu Senator Kimani Wamatangi dismissed Prof Nyongo’s assertions that the government was doing nothing to address insecurity.
“There was a disconnect between intelligence services and various security agencies. We now know more than we knew and that is why changes are taking place in the various arms of security.”
Mr Wamatangi said that changes at the NIS had rekindled hope that things would be done differently.
“One key thing is that we must protect Kenya from becoming a fertile ground for breeding sympathisers of terror. We have already seen local elements who have been used by terrorists,” he said.
Senate Majority Whip Beatrice Elachi echoed the sentiments and asserted that NIS and Immigration changes were a step in the right direction but said the National Police Service required tougher changes at the managerial level.
“We saw remarkable changes when former Police Commissioner Hussein Ali took over. Officers were motivated because promotions were done on merit.
“I do not think that is happening now. Our police need such motivation.”
Kajiado Central MP Joseph Nkaiserry said having working security systems in place is just part of the solution.
“Citizens hold the key to their own security. Security agencies cannot be everywhere.
“The culture and spirit of being vigilant is key in fighting off any security threat,” said Mr Nkaissery, a retired military officer.
