Blame game over Westgate attack

Rivalry among security agencies and lack of clear command lines badly affected the response to the terrorist

attack on the Westgate Mall, the Nation has established.

Jurisdictional differences appear to have extended to blame games among security agencies, as Kenya recovers from its worst terror attack since the 1998 bombing of the Embassy of the United States of America in Nairobi.

Various units of the Kenya Police and the Kenya Defence Forces played key roles in the rescue operation after a band of terrorists linked to Somalia-based Al-Shabaab attacked the shopping mall on Saturday and killed dozens before holding an unknown number hostage inside the up-market complex.

Inquiries by the Nation indicate that a coordinated rescue mission was badly delayed because of disputes between the Kenya Police and KDF officers commanding their units on the ground.

A reconstruction of the rescue mission indicates that a team from the Recce General Service Unit of the Kenya Police early in the rescue operation made its way into the mall and secured most of it, pinning down the terrorists at one end around Nakumatt Supermarket and Barclays Bank.

Rooftop parking

However, the team pulled out after its commander was fatally shot in ‘friendly fire’ following the arrival of a KDF unit.

Also pulling out at the same time was a small group of policemen from various units and armed civilians, who were the first to enter the mall from the rooftop parking and the front entrance and led hundreds of shoppers to safety.

The pullout left a vacuum that apparently allowed the terrorists to regroup and move through the mall slaughtering many captives.

It also allowed the terrorists to deploy heavy-calibre machine guns that they had not used in the earlier shootout.

It took prolonged consultations that also involved State House before President Kenyatta publicly announced that Inspector-General of Police David Kimaiyo was in charge.

However, it was also decided that KDF Special Forces would be the ones to conduct the actual assault on the terrorists, while the GSU and other police units ringed the mall.

The soldiers and their commanders on the ground only answered to KDF chief General Julius Karangi rather than to the police boss, which also complicated the operation.
The teams also appeared to have had different aims. One officer involved said that some units had a priority to locate and rescue a specific group of VIPs.

Barely an hour after the attack, the GSU squad had taken control of almost 70 per cent of the building after moving in to reinforce the small group of policemen, who were the first to enter the building.

The KDF Special Forces came in later to spearhead the operation, with the GSU forming the second inner cordon in the mall behind the army units from the 20 Para Battalion and Maroon Commandos.

The rivalry is understood to have extended to communication on how the public would be informed of the progress of the operation.

As Parliament promised to demand answers from all units involved, it also emerged on Wednesday that the police had been given advance intelligence on the planned terrorist attack, but failed to act.

The Parliamentary Defence Committee Thursday summoned all security chiefs — including National Intelligence Service boss Michael Gichangi—to appear before it next week. The sessions are expected to be dominated by buck-passing.

“The time for responsibility and accountability has come,” Defence Committee chairman Ndung’u Gethenji said.

Likely targets

A local newspaper Thursday quoted an intelligence source claiming Maj-Gen Gichangi had passed information to Mr Kimaiyo and CID director Ndegwa Muhoro on the impending attack on Westgate.

Speaking to the Nation Thursday, however, a highly-placed source within the police denied that such information was ever passed on.

He said all the communication logs and situation reports had been cross-checked in the wake of the attack and confirmed that no such report was ever made.

What was on record in the recent past, he insisted, were the regular alerts on terrorist plots and likely targets such as government buildings, city landmarks and high-rise buildings, tourist hotels, up-market shopping malls frequented by diplomats and expatriates, and western embassies.

From the debate in Parliament in the wake of the attack, it also appears some MPs have already decided who to blame for the security lapse.

Meanwhile, intelligence officers are pursuing leads indicating that a terrorist who is already serving a 59-year jail term was in contact from behind prison walls with the group that planned and carried out the Westgate attack.

Abdimajid Yassin Mohammed was last year jailed after pleading guilty to the charges of terrorism. It is believed that some warders at Kamiti Maximum Security Prison allowed him to communicate with the conspirators outside.

Suicide mission
Mr Mohammed, 26, and a colleague reportedly bought a Peugeot 505 car for Sh180,000 and did not bother to ask for the log book.
They had planned to use it for a suicide mission on Parliament, but the car broke down on September 13 as they set out on their operation.
They were arrested with four suicide bomb belts, 12 hand grenades, four AK 47 rifles, 481 bullets and two home-made bombs. They led police to a flat in Nairobi’s Eastleigh area where some of the arsenal was recovered.

They also confessed that they were sent to Kenya by Jafra Hussein, an Al-Shabaab commander in Mogadishu.

Beautiful girls and fake doctors feign sickness after a night out with prominent men to rob them

The rise of beautiful con women among the city’s upscale joints has reached an all time high.
 In the past year many prominent government officials, lawyers and businessmen have been lured into sex while others into hospitals parting with millions of shillings.
 A few months ago, a top government official had to part with a million to avoid embarrassment as the girl he was drinking with took his photos in compromising situation.
Mid last month, businessman Charles Kimani met Laura Webuye at a business cocktail party. Even though he is married, they exchanged contacts and two days later, they met in a upscale hotel in Hurlingham for drinks.
 “The evening went on well. She was laughing at my jokes and around 9:00pm her female friend joined us,” explains Kimani who did not know he was being trapped.
“After two glasses Laura stopped drinking citing a medical condition. I urged her to take one last glass for the road,” adds Kimani.
Laura obliged and ordered for two more glasses. “Suddenly she fell onto the table and started getting a seizure. Laura was shaking uncontrollably and foaming in the mouth. Her friend told me that she was suffering from an epileptic fit that they could lead to respiratory failure. Together with help from the hotel waiters, Kimani took her to a city hospital,” he explains.
Shocked by the turn of events Kimani offered any assistance he could to save Laura’s life.
“By that time her friend was hysterical claiming that Laura wasn’t even breathing. I was told to wait at the lobby as they took her in to see the doctors,” adds Kimani.
After few minutes a doctor emerged accompanying Laura’s friend and pulled him out in the parking. The doctor told him Laura was being resuscitated.
“The doctor pulled me aside and named some strange medical terms, saying Laura needed to be in the hospital for at least two days. I was drunk and I could barely understand what he was saying. Laura’s friend was in tears, holding me while crying and I was worried. He asked me to pay Sh73,000 cash. He said it would be cheaper than doing it officially through the hospital billing system,” says Kimani.
Kimani recalls how at that moment Laura’s friend immediately went into her purse and gave the doctor crisp Sh7,000 notes. She claimed that’s all she had and she asked Kimani to top up adding that Laura could pay him back when she gets out of danger.
“Feeling guilty for asking her to drink more and worse so being tipsy I withdrew Sh20,000 from an ATM and went into my pocket and added Sh38,000. The doctor was not happy with Sh58,000 and wouldn’t even allow me to see Laura. All this time, Laura’s pal was still crying and I dropped her at Nakumatt Prestige. We agreed to meet tomorrow in the morning to go see Laura,” narrates Kimani.

The next morning, Kimani, sober, tried calling Laura’s friend but her number wasn’t going through. He then went to the hospital and inquired about a patient who had been admitted the previous night. “I was told that there was no patient with the description I gave at the hospital. I then asked for Doctor Martin who had treated Laura but when doctor Martin came, it wasn’t the same guy I met yesterday”
It then dawned on Kimani that he had been set up all along. Pieces of the puzzle started falling into place. Laura had given him her business card. He practically knew nothing about her, part from that she owned a salon business.
“I wondered why Laura’s friend had asked me to drop her at a deserted Prestige late in the night.  I had even given her Sh2000 for cab but she didn’t tell me where she lived exactly. I think one hospital worker pretended to be a doctor, and I can now understand why Laura had a seizure deep in the night when the hospital was quiet.”
Kimani lost Sh60,000 to Laura.  “It feels stupid going to the cop with such a story. I can’t even remember much because I was drunk, but one thing is for sure, I fell into a con woman’s trap,” admits Kimani who has accepted and moved on.
Just like Kimani, a commissioner had to part with Sh2 million after girls entrapped him and took his pictures in a compromising situation. The high-flying advocate had been drinking in an exclusive Kilimani bar where he invited one of the girls. The young woman came with her friend who was even more beautiful and as drinks flowed, levels of lust also rose. The two girls agreed to share the lawyer for the night and the drunk man oblivious of their scheme, fell for their plan.
The next day, he parted with Sh2 million so the pictures and videos would not be shown in public to embarrass him. The man also has political ambitions and so did not report the matter to the police.
Another lawyer who is also leading a commission parted with Sh1million after a girl he was drinking with took their pictures in a compromising situation. The incident also took place at an affluent Kilimani club.
 And even government officials are not immune from the girls as one of them found out. After drinking one too many with a nubile beauty, the law professor had to part with a million shillings after the girl threatened to reveal their pictures in a compromising situation.

The picture above was posted online by Linda Laina Nyatoro, a South African reporter who witnessed the incident. According to her, the giant snake swallowed a woman two days ago, near Durban North, South Africa. Damn! this is scary!