from: Ouko joachim omolo
The News Dispatch with Omolo Beste
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 30, 201E

It is very unfortunate that the Westgate Mall looting has gone tribal. Gen Julius Karangi says Victor Otieno and Victor Ashiundu had to be sacked and jailed for looting during the Westgate shopping mall terror attack. The third soldier, Isaiah Wanjala is under probe over the allegations.

According to Gen Karangi the soldiers were found with mobile phones, cameras and chargers that were “stolen” from the mall during the siege. It contradicts his previous statement that soldiers had only taken water during the four-day siege.

The Jubilee Government, through the Interior and Coordination of National Government Cabinet Secretary, Joseph Ole Lenku, on the other hand has rubbished the Jicho Pevu exposé by KTN’s investigative Journalists, Mohammed Ali, and, John Allan Namu, which exposed how the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) looted the Westgate Mall.

Speaking on Saturday, Lenku maintained that KDF never looted the Westgate Mall, saying they are very professional and highly trained soldiers who cannot engage in any act of lawlessness during an operation.

This comes even after the CCTV footage showed KDF soldiers “illegally doing shopping” (looting) and leaving the mall with their loot in white Nakumatt paper bags. The question now is, why only three soldiers, all from Western Kenya have been identified?

Speaking earlier on, Asman Kamama of Security and Ndung’u Githinji of Defence noted that KDF never looted at Westgate contrary to earlier allegations by shop owners. Instead, Jubilee MPs alleged that the shop owners at Westgate Mall took advantage of the terror situation to loot their own shops to fleece insurance companies.

Members of Parliament in the joint Committee on National Security and Defence have also changed their mind saying the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) may have looted at the Westgate Mall during the terror attack last month.

Previously Parliamentary Committees, which jointly investigated the Westgate Mall looting absolved KDF from looting allegations and cleared them of any wrong doing at the Mall.

But later on Defence Committee Chairman, Ndungu Githinji, confirmed that KDF may have looted the Westgate Mall contrary to their earlier statement that had cleared them, noting that during their investigation they were never given or viewed all the CCTV footage at Westgate and that the new footage is very compelling and clearly shows KDF looting.

The big question however, since Karangi is giving it tribal oulook, will the MPs get the truth when they go back again to the table to ascertain the truth about KDF soldiers and their operation at Westgate as they have promised?

Up to now Karangi is unable to satisfactorily explain why his men not only assisted but took over operations within the mall despite President Uhuru Kenyatta putting the Inspector General of Police David Kimaiyo in charge.

Apart from the three suspects, Karangi has also failed to satisfactorily convince Kenyans that when CCTV footage displayed soldiers walking out of Nakumatt with paper bags and then stopping by a mobile phone counter, was that water?

And even if the soldiers took water, why carry them out when they were supposed to drink them inside? And by the way soldiers are supposed to carry all the necessary items require when they go for any operation, why were they in the first place carry water from Nakumatt?

Again outside the mall there were charitable people who were providing food and water to the security and journalists, why could they not carry water with them inside instead of taking water of the supper market without permission?

Karangi has also failed to explain clearly what caused the second floor parking lot to collapse. Instead Karangi maintained that the building was brought down by mattresses the terrorists burnt and not the anti-tank gun they used to expose the terrorists.

Fr Joachim Omolo Ouko, AJ
Tel +254 7350 14559/+254 722 623 578
E-mail omolo.ouko@gmail.comFacebook-omolo beste
Twitter-@8000accomole

Real change must come from ordinary people who refuse to be taken hostage by the weapons of politicians in the face of inequality, racism and oppression, but march together towards a clear and unambiguous goal.
-Anne Montgomery, RSCJ
UN Disarmament
Conference, 2002