Cowards Attack

I have been searching for words to express the horror and atrocity that was the Westgate Mall attack and every time I think I have come up with the right emotions to express the sheer disgust and magnitude of the event, I find that anger rears its ugly head up and will not allow me to be objective in thought and action. Every man likes to say “I wish I had a gun” but the truth is that most of us are extremely emotional and temperamental thus having a loaded gun in our hands would lead to catastrophe and as an added bonus, a stint as a guest of the state at some of their less than fair infamous lodgings. That said, I have always said that all it takes for evil to exist is for one person to do nothing. With the mall attack there were a number of people who wanted to show boat and run/ manage the situation, flow of information and gain glory at the end of the ordeal. Unfortunately, as a result of their actions or inaction  things went extremely wrong. It was a cacophony of blunders even as a few people went about gallantly doing the right thing by saving lives, giving first aid, helping out in any way possible or how they knew.

Most of us are old enough to know where they were the first time we heard about a terrorist attack in Kenya i.e. the US embassy bombing in Nairobi in 1998, we either knew someone who was injured, died or got caught up in that attack. I still have not to date gone near or inside the famous bell-bottom house. Fast forward through the years and we had a few more incidents such as: hotel bombing in Kanamai Mombasa, grenade attacks all over Kenya and, we now have the Westgate Mall Attack. This time as before, yet again we knew someone who perished in the attack, was injured or was caught up in the attack. From a neighbor, to a friend, to family, the horrible act landed at our doorstep and has made us all question the question of mortality, where we are in life, achievements, dreams, family etc. 

For one of my friends it was a near brush with death that would have wiped out 3 generations. A loss none of us should ever experience or could ever comprehend unless we are in those shoes. It is one of those moments that literally force you to stop, take a step back and re-examine what is important in our lives. A lot has always been said of the Indian community that resides in Kenya but the show of solidarity, organization, help they gave and exhibited during the entire period is nothing short of miraculous and inspiring. As a community they stood up, took charge and acted as a mini government whereas the real government was still stumped on the way forward. The Red Cross under Abbas Gullet has really come out of the shadows and shown us it is an organization worth having and contributing to. We have always grown up seeing those tins at the checkout counter of Uchumi for red cross, Kenya first aid etc. where we can drop our coin change but what we should all strive to do, is to commit to doing something or helping change and strengthen such organizations. Next time it could be you and your family who need their help. To the Kenya Police “Utumishi kwa wote” kudos on changing the perception people have of you. I saw policemen run into the mall without bullet proof vests to save people they do not know. They risked their lives for total strangers and we only seem to appreciate them only when we need their help in the dead of the night. To KDF, they say it is your job to protect the borders of Kenya and its people but a thank you should be expressed to the solders that came to help quell the attack (blunders not withstanding) and stop the carnage. Everyone played their part and in the end the heinous act was eventually stopped.

Now the hard part starts and the painful and hard questions have to be asked. The buck must stop somewhere and heads must roll. Top of my head I can come up with a few pertinent questions like:

1. Is it not time to restructure the intelligence service from top to bottom with not only new leadership, manpower, equipment but also by injecting new ideas and ways to keep up with the changing times?
2. Don’t we need an inter-agency group that shares information both vertically and horizontally instead of passing the buck when a problem occurs?
3. Dubious foreigners have a lot of dubious investment in the Kenyan economy, my question has always been, where is the central government, central bank and KRA in the checking of money laundering? Some have distorted the real estate sector paying premiums of over 100%. Does this mean that their businesses do better than the indigenous Kenyan?
   The locals who benefit from such shady deals of working with the financiers of terrorism should rethink this for the sake of the future and as a “persuasion tactic” why can’t gains gotten from this kind of activity should be seized and used to fund the war on terror?

To those who lost someone in the attack or were injured, our heat felt condolences and prayers go out to you and your families. To those who survived, the scars of that afternoon will always be with you and all I can say is instead of being a victim, stand up strong and forge on with life. As you solder on, Kenyans will be with you and the message we will give to the terrorists who commit such heinous acts is that we are stronger, more united and we shall not be broken by cowardly acts such as these. May God always protect us and be our shield and defender.