Saturday, October 26, 2013
Chief of Defence Forces John Karangi should resign if allegations of
looting by the army at the Westgate shopping mall are proved true,
former military officers have said.
They also want all soldiers captured on CCTV cameras carrying plastic
bags court martialled and the loot returned. On Saturday of September
21, at around 4pm, the first team from the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF)
Special Regiment made up of 40 Ranger Strike Force, 30 Special Forces
and 20 Parachute Battalion, was deployed to Westgate Mall.The
officers are later captured carrying plastic bags from Nakumatt
supermarket, their contents unknown. âThis is the worst of what I have
heard of our military,â said retired Army Major John Seii,
âSomething must be wrong with our soldiers. I blame the top command
for their failures.â
He said the military is always a serious organisation where such cases of indiscipline are not expected.
He
added: âMilitary carry out instructions and here we have to find if
there were any instructions to loot and those who participated should be
arrested. You cannot rob the same people you want to free.â
Generals decorated
Mr Seii said when military triumphs in a war, the generals are the ones who are decorated.
He
said: âThis should be the same in this case. The generals have failed
and they should take blame. Those mentioned should step down to redeem
the face of our military.â
Intelligence sources say the bags
contained cash emptied from cash trays at Nakumatt. This happened at a
time the suspected terrorists had all the time, even conducting prayers
inside the mall.
The footage opened a public condemnation, with
Kenyans taking on social media to mock the army carrying plastic bags
during the recent Mashujaa Day celebrations at Nyayo Stadium. The
officers are also alleged to have stolen phones and beer as they
conducted the operation.
The officer said the police could have
leaked the CCTV footage to the media to express their anger against KDF
who took over operations at the mall from them. The looting happened as
Kenyans were glued to their television sets awaiting victory over the
terrorists by KDF. âThat is the worst thing (looting) the military can
do. Gen Karangi should have resigned by this time since everything
indicate the soldiers did loot,â said Charles Chesire, a retired army
major.
Njeru Kathangu, a retired Kenya Air Force Captain who later resigned
to join politics and human rights activism said Kenyans would not
forgive the army for what they did.
âMilitary is all about
discipline and command,â he said, âWhat we are seeing as CCTV images
capturing our army with paper bags is not what they were expected
of.â
He said the teamâs commandant should be held answerable for what
the army did. He said had it been a fight between an enemy and the army
conquered, such scenario is employed to intimidate the enemy.
When
US forces captured Baghdad in 2003, their army watched as locals went
on a looting spree in major towns of Iraq that according to him was a
ploy to intimidate Saddamâs supporters. Mr Kathangu said that could
not be applied in the Westagate Mall scenario since those who were
affected were innocent businessmen and shoppers. Kathangu said: âThe
army had gone to help free those held hostage and secure the building
but in this case, as things look, the army added salt to injury by
stealing from the shop owners. It is very wrong and I think the Chief of
Staff Karangi is seeing the reaction of Kenyans.â
Betrayed Kenyans
He
said the army had betrayed Kenyans and called for disciplinary action
to be taken against those who had participated in the operation. âWhen
sent to war, the army are not even allowed to kill their enemies but
arrest them as prisoners of war. Our military discipline is down.â A
former military officer who is serving as a military attaché in a
neighbouring country said the incident had portrayed the military in bad
light and washed away the confidence Kenyans had on them.
âYou
see we have been having respect wherever we go but now, our colleagues
ask us what happened to our army which has always been rated as the best
and most disciplined in East Africa,â said the retired army major who
sought anonymity because he is not allowed to comment on military
matters, âIt is shamefulâ¦This is not the army I used to serve.â
But the military has denied the looting claims, with Karangi saying
soldiers captured on CCTV with plastic bags were carrying water.
âThey
(soldiers) only picked up water at Nakumatt to quench their thirst,
with authority from their commanders,â Karangi, who was accompanied by
Defence Secretary Raychelle Omamo told the joint committees on National
Security and Defence of the National Assembly on Tuesday.
He said
the footage that showed KDF officers ransacking safes in jewellery
stores at the mall were undertaking a procedure he termed as
âsanitisation to ensure their safety.â Initially, the KDF had been
praised for their work before the looting claims were made. âWhen in
war zones soldiers always carry enough water,â said Mr Chesire. A week
ago, the MPs exonerated the military from blame, citing preliminary
investigations.
National Security Chairman Asman Kamama and his
Defence and Foreign Relations counterpart Ndungu Githinji thrashed
claims that business owners had lost property to looting, something they
claimed was a ploy to get compensation from insurance firms.
âNot
all Kenyans are as forthright as you may like to believe and some will
use the cover of looting to seek compensation from insurance firms,â
Mr Githinji said. When contacted later following the CCTV footage,
Defence Secretary Rachel Omamo also denied the looting claims and urged
those who had evidence to present them even as the area had been
cordoned off and military blocked people 300 meters away from the mall.
âIt
should be noted that KDF came to this operation with a history of
outstanding performance in both internal and external operationsâ said
Ms Omamo.