The chairs of the two committees also thrashed claims that business owners had lost property to looting which they claimed was a ploy to get compensation from insurance firms.
This, they said was due to the fact that most of the business owners in the mall did not have insurance policies on terrorism but had on stealing.
National Security chairman Asman Kamama and his Defence and Foreign Relations counterpart Ndungu Githinji addressed journalists after meeting the country’s security chiefs.
“Not 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,” Githinji said adding that the traders were also eying the Government’s initiative to help them recover their lost property.
Kamama and Ndung’u repeatedly told reporters that they had been convinced from evidence provided that KDF soldiers who were in the mall during the operation did not loot.
“We want to confirm to the media and Kenyans that from what we have seen, no officer from KDF looted as alleged and we want to appeal to Kenyans in the social media to desist from besmirching and maligning the name of KDF,” Kamama said.
However, Kitutu Chache South MP Richard Onyonka stormed out of the press conference when the two committee chairs appeared to deny him a chance to respond on inquiries on how they had cleared the soldiers.
“This issue of Westgate is under investigation but it is unfortunate, that even when we know our security forces may have done a good job to contain the problem, for the two co-chairs to clear KDF when the report has not been finalized,” Onyonka alter told the Standard.
The outspoken legislator said Kamama and Githinji should tell the country the truth or resort to whitewash the committee’s report.
“We have not even cross examined any business owner or interrogated the security chiefs and I am wondering how the chairs came up with the conclusion to clear the soldiers,” Onyonka added.
Kamama said that they had been given evidence that all monies that were with banks had been repatriated to its owners saying Barclays recovered 68M, DTB 65M, KCB 31M, CFC 32M while the millionaires casino recovered 50M.
“We have investigated and seen all the CCTV and we can confirm KDF never looted. When the military spoke of repatriation, this term may have been misunderstood as it meant moving the money to other branches,” he said adding that the military had shown them clips and letters of bank managers confirm their money was intact.
Yesterday, all top security chiefs led by Cabinet Secretaries Joseph Lenku (Interior) and Raychelle Omamo (Defence) appeared before the committee. Others were Chief of Defence Forces Julius Karangi, National Intelligence Service (NIS) Director General Michael Gichangi, Inspector General of Police David Kimaiyo and his two deputies Grace Kahindi and Samuel Arachi, CID director Ndegwa Muhoro and other top commanders of both the police and KDF.
The chiefs will return to the house next week. Muhoro told the committee that four main suspects had been arrested while telephone calls made by terrorists had been traced to Norway and USA, and sleuths were narrowing down to some of the accomplices who are in Kenya.
The NIS boss informed the MPs that, some of the terrorists had planned the attack from inside a refugee camp before they travelled to Nairobi to execute it.
“We have been informed that the terror was planned from a refugee camp, and we will make a report to close some of those camps,” Kamama said.
The security chiefs however, did not tell the committee the exact number of terrorists who were at the mall saying that it’s only forensic investigations that can provide identification of the suspects.
“They have told us that even by yesterday, they recovered an AK47 and since our security forces don’t use that gun, it’s clear that the terrorists may have been killed,” Kamama added.
- The Standard
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