From: Ali Abdallah

Westgate; The questions that need to be answered!!

What happened to our country was very tragic and horrific and most of us cannot bear the thought of what the victims experienced during the events of the horrific tragedy.

I appreciate what the defense forces, police and all security units involved eventually did and in no way whatsoever do I take their effort for granted.

However, it is time we looked at the situation with the harsh reality of what it is.

1. Is this the first hostage situation?

We do acknowledge the fact that Westgate was probably targeted due to; its location is an upmarket shopping complex frequented by foreigners (expats mainly) as well as wealthy Kenyans and in all fairness, this is the first terrorist related hostage situation of this complexity on Kenyan soil; however it is not the first of its kind in this country.

· Please allow me to remind fellow Kenyans of the number of car-jacking cases that happen in Nairobi alone on a weekend?

· Remember how many cases we have of kidnap and ransom cases in this country, mainly in Nairobi and its immediate environs?

· How many cases of robbery in public transport vehicles do we know of, if we have not experienced them ourselves?

· How many cases of matatu hijackings take place?

These are but a few of the local terror situations that the common mwananchi goes through on a daily/weekly/monthly basis. And my question is before we go complementing security forces in the country, what has the police force done to tackle this small* cases? (Small in comparison to the Westgate attack)

In all fairness, each and every Kenyan has experienced the harsh reality of Police hostility even when one is reporting a case.

We all know that Police hotlines are almost never useful; as was proven during a TV interview where they called the Hotline numbers LIVE!!

2. How long have we been receiving threats

Our country has received a number of threats, which in fact was a major driving force pushing Kenya to go into Somalia; this led to grenade attacks in the CBD, killings in various areas of the country and the eventual beef up in security within the country which was of course led to the financial boost of “security” services. This was followed by scandals of fake surveillance equipment being supplied to Kenya and the eventual question we all asked when we frequented a mall:

· Do they (askari’s) know what they are looking for?

· Why wasn’t I frisked even after the detector beeped?

· Why wasn’t the inside of my car checked? Areas such as the glove compartment etc.?

· Why wasn’t I searched when inside my vehicle?

· Why isn’t there a lady guard to check my companion?

· Why wasn’t the mzungu in front of me searched while I am being stopped?

3. How many victims died?

Why do we all have this gut feeling that the government is lying to us? I am Kenyan and I deserve to know how many of my brethren fell victims to the attacks.

With such secrecy and inconsistency over the matter, one can only speculate:

· We know how our police force has previously killed innocent lives.

· Could some victims have fallen been caught in “friendly fire”?

· We did hear that some GSU were accidentally shot by KDF! This may not have been verified, but I would like to know if there is a possibility if any of this happening?

4. How many attackers were there?

Initial reports claimed 5 attackers being led by a woman. This reports eventually matured to a number of 10-15. What intel was used to provide such information? A variation of 10-15 is too big a variation (50%).

If only 5 were killed by our forces, where were the others? If they were on a suicide mission;

· Why did the remaining 10 (if there were 10) let the 5 face the forces while they barricaded themselves?

· Why (according to certain claims) would they dress up as women only to change their attire later?

· Why hold up for so long if they had all the explosives?

· Initially it was claimed that the KDF started the fire, at what point were the explosives set off?

· ……..Etc!!!

5. How was this planned in our country?

There have been claims of intelligence having knowledge about the presence of this group in Kenya and planning of this attack, if this is deemed to be true;

· Why was it allowed to happen?

· How was it allowed to happen?

· Who allowed it to happen?

6. How prepared is Kenya

Kenya has barely recovered from the fire at the country’s biggest international airport. The fire was an eye opener on the lack of preparedness we have for crisis situations.

We still experience massacres in the country at the Moyale border where people mercilessly kill each other; Remember Tana River!!!

· Fire brigades have been known to have a reputation for “time keeping”;

· Police have a reputation for collaborating with thieves and basically doing nothing about everything.

· The same forces apparently let go of an assailant even after it was pointed out to them by a victim.

The questions are endless, but I would like to say this; certain factors played a role either directly or indirectly in the unfortunate happenings that take place in our country. Some of which are:

· Poor command/hierarchy of command in security forces.

· Poorly educated, prepped and ill-prepared security forces as well as supporting services such as fire.

· Poor communication between various security forces.

· Corruption, the mother of all evil in Kenyan society.

· Neglect of the forces from the government, to ensure the forces are up to date on security measures in the 21st century.

· Lack of proper remuneration of security forces.

· Improper blending in of the judicial system to work hand in hand with police force.

Is this going to be an eye opener or are we going to do what Kenyans are good at, wake up in a months’ time and live like nothing happened?

It is time we questioned our law makers where our money is going to if we cannot get security within our borders, our businesses are not secure, our families are not secure and in essence our livelihood is not secure.

As they are busy giving themselves hefty bonuses, surrounding themselves with heavy security for themselves.
Who is securing us?

Yours Truly,
Ali Abdallah.