Joseph Ole Lenku and David Kimaiyo put brave face, vow to nab militiamen

Kenya’s security agencies were early yesterday caught flat-footed when a gang of heavily-armed militia waylaid a bus, pulled out passengers, and slaughtered 28 people including nine women.

The attack, which was claimed by the Somalia-based al Shabaab militia, was carried out on a Nairobi-bound bus at a place called Arabia, between Elwak and Mandera.

Al Shabaab claimed the attack for what it said was a “retaliation for the closure of four mosques in Mombasa”, the Cabinet Secretary of Interior Joseph ole Lenku and Inspector General David Kimaiyo said they were pursuing the attackers.

Lenku and Kimaiyo referred to the attackers as “bandits”. They insisted that the attackers were being tracked by the intelligence agencies in the country, and as soon as the attack happened, the military pursued them, and killed “many”.

“They have been in the intelligence radar and they are known...I can categorically confirm that some decisive action has been taken against these criminal gang. Their source has also been identified and destroyed,” said Lenku.

The Interior boss shortly after the noon news conference in Nairobi, then added that the Kenya Defence Force was in an “offensive” to nab the attackers.

“Attackers camp has been destroyed by KDF using helicopters and jets, many killed, operations continue,” said Lenku on the ministry’s official handle @InteriorKE.

Kimaiyo, who addressed a news conference at his office earlier in the day, in Nairobi’s Jogoo House said a combined security contingent had been deployed to the area.

“I want to assure the people and residents of Mandera that security in the area will be enhanced and that more officers will be deployed. Public transport will be moving under armed escort to ensure maximum security of travellers,” said Kimaiyo.
The IG went ahead to deliver bad news to the people of Lamu County that the curfew will not be lifted for another month. “In view of the fact that we are still conducting security operations in the county, I hereby declare an extension of these curfew orders for one more month,” said Kimaiyo. The new curfew orders will expire on the morning of Christmas Eve, December 24.

However, the curfew in Lamu will be lifted for three days, between November 24 and 26 to allow for the Maulid festival celebration. He defended the curfew which has paralysed business in Lamu, saying the security situation “has not fully normalized”.

Planning attacks

“We are also aware that there are people who are planning attacks through youths who they continue to radicalize. This is a situation that we must bring under control and the curfew is one of the strategies we are using to minimise operations of these elements and eventually net them,” said Kimaiyo.

Lenku and Kimaiyo both denied ever having received any alerts or tips about a pending terrorist attack in Mandera, over a week after the Mandera Governor Ali Roba warned of increased terrorist chatter regarding an attack in the country.

“I am not aware of such information. He (Roba) should tell us who he gave it to,” said Kimaiyo.

When the same question was put to Lenku at his briefing, he dismissed it. “We do not want side shows. Intelligence is what does our work,” Lenku responded.

The question for Lenku was, if they had the attackers under surveillance, at what point did they elude the authorities to slaughter Kenyans who were travelling to the capital? Governor Roba said he had given the reports to the county security team.

But as journalists dug in for answers, the Cabinet Secretary declined to take further questions that journalists had lined up concerning the security of Kenyans in the face of the deaths from bandits, terrorists, and other petty criminals.

With the radical youth at the Coast posing a security threat, Lenku and Kimaiyo said they will not allow radical clerics to target school leavers and jobless youth. “These are criminals who want to divide Kenyans against religious lines.

This is not a Muslim against Christian act. They masquerade as defenders of Islam,” said Lenku.
The Cabinet Secretary said he will not allow leaders to incite people.

“I have asked the National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC) to open investigation on leaders who may have made inciteful (stet) statements in the recent past,” he said.

He was speaking on the sidelines of an Interfaith Symposium at the National Museums of Kenya. On the closure of Mombasa mosques, Lenku said they will remain shut.

“The government does not intend to touch on places of worship. But even leaders have failed to condemn the criminal actions experienced in the recent past,” said Lenku.

Security has been on a nosedive in the country, and Kimaiyo reeled out the hotspots that have claimed lives of people among them police officers.

Kimaiyo narrated the trails of attacks in various region in the country. On November 17, he said, about 30 armed bandits invaded Chaffa Gafarisa in Gotu to steal livestock.

In this attack four police reservists were killed and a civilian was injured and taken to Isiolo Hospital.
The next morning of November 18 in Marsabit, Buluk village another batch of attackers killed five people and injured 13 others.

About these attacks, Kimaiyo said that, “A police service contingent is still pursuing the bandits that attacked Buluk and Chaffa. For lamu, the curfew has been extended because the area been fully normalized.

Tracing the trails of killing that includes 21 killed police officers in Kapedo, Kimaiyo, when asked if the security forces have been overwhelmed by terror acts, said they have by large extent prevented the heinous acts from happening in the country.

“The attacks could have been even more but we have managed to stop that before it happens.” he said.