Troops eyed in Kenya mall thefts
Witnesses claim poorly paid security forces pilfering shops in wake of terrorist siege
NAIROBI, KENYA— For the second time in two months, poorly paid Kenyan security forces that moved in to control an emergency are being accused of robbing the very property they were supposed to protect.
First, the troops were accused of looting during a huge fire in August at Nairobi’s main airport. Now shop owners at Westgate Mall are returning to their stores after last week’s devastating terrorist attack to find their businesses looted.
One witness said he saw a Kenyan soldier take cigarettes out of a dead man’s pocket.
Shopkeepers spent Monday carting merchandise and other valuables out of their stores and restaurants to prevent any more thefts. No one can say for sure who is responsible, but Kenya’s security forces are strongly suspected.
Soon after the attack began on Sept. 21, Kenyan officials put a cordon around the mall, allowing only security forces and a few government personnel to pass through.
Since then, alcohol stocks from the restaurants have been depleted. One business owner at the mall said money and mobile phones were taken from bags and purses left behind in the mayhem. The owner insisted on anonymity to avoid retribution from Kenya’s government.
Employees of a book shop on the mall’s second floor returned to find registers yanked open and cash gone. The store’s laptops were also stolen. All the shop’s books remained in place, said owner Paku Tsavani.
Perhaps reluctant to blame Kenyan security forces, Tsavani said he doesn’t know who took his goods. “Obviously the terrorists wouldn’t steal those things, so we just don’t know,” he said.
Sandeep Vidyarthi went into the mall Sunday to help a relative retrieve equipment from his dental practice. As he was leaving, Vidyarthi passed a jewelry shop. The owner, he said, was presenting security officials with a long list of missing precious stones and high-end necklaces. “The jeweller had written down this very long list,” he said. It is ironic, said the management team of one Westgate business, that store owners must now make reports of stolen goods to the same security forces suspected of the pilfering. Interior Minister Joseph Ole Lenku confirmed the reports of theft in a news conference Sunday. “Those responsible for looting will be prosecuted,” he said. The terrorists entered Westgate shortly after noon Sept. 21, firing guns and throwing grenades. The attackers — Somalia’s Al Shabab claimed responsibility — held off Kenya’s military for four days. The attack killed at least 67 people, and almost a week after the attack ended more than three dozen people remain unaccounted for, the head of the Kenyan Red Cross said Monday. Earlier reports of missing were higher. The government contends no people remaining missing. “The only way to verify this is when the government declares the Westgate Mall 100 per cent cleared. Then we can resolve it,” Red Cross head Abbas Gullet said.