Blunder that made Kenya target for terrorists Kenya’s decision to pull out of a global counter-terrorism agency may have unwittingly made the country a choice target for terrorist attacks, The People Saturday has learnt. Sources within security circles now contend it was a serious error of judgement for Kenya to have disengaged from the global anti-terror agent known as the Joint Counter-Terrorism Task Force (JCTTF), nine years ago. Security experts say that Kenya’s unexplained decision to walk out of the multi-lateral agency largely contributed to making Kenya vulnerable to global terrorist organisation, the al Qaeda and its local surrogate, the al Shabaab. The JCTTF is a caucus of top-level officials in the intelligence, military, immigration, and prosecution from, among other nations, the US, UK, Israel, Italy, Canada and Germany. Closer home, Uganda, Tanzania, and Ethiopia are signed up members of the global anti-terrorism agency. Through JCTTF, member countries share intelligence on counter-terrorism. Member countries share intelligence on defusing would-be terrorist attacks as well as sharing information on nailing down culprits on attacks already staged. The People Saturday has established Kenya had joined the multi-lateral agent in 2004 at the prompting of the US. Subsequently, three highly placed Kenyan officials travelled to Washington to familiarise themselves with the working of JCTTF.Screen Shot 2014-05-02 at 8.01.56 PM They were then head of the National Counter-Terrorism Centre, Michael Gichangi (now the director-general of the National Intelligence Services), then Director of Public Prosecutions, Philip Murgor, and then Commissioner of Police Hussein Ali. The three-week learning tour was arranged by then US ambassador to Kenya, William Bellamy. The agreement was that Kenya set up a JCTTF training facility, which was to be fully-funded by Washington. It was to be constructed on the piece of land now occupied by Ole Sereni Hotel on Mombasa Road. It was further agreed that then desolate Kenya School of Law buildings on Valley Road be renovated and used for training of prosecutors on terrorism and related crimes of money-laundering and piracy. The overall objective was to train and equip a special counter-terrorism unit that integrated officers from the intelligence, anti-terror police, the military, immigration and the judiciary. A preparatory induction course was subsequently held at the Kenya School of Monetary Studies. But shortly after the preparatory seminar, Kenya abruptly pulled out of the JCTTF initiative. We have reliably established that some highly placed officials feared that JCTTF initiative would unearth their links with criminal cartels involved in drug trafficking, illegal issuance of immigration documents and piracy. On quitting the JCTTF initiative, say security experts, Kenya has had a disjointed counter-terrorism strategy.Screen Shot 2014-05-02 at 8.03.08 PM Security experts who spoke to The People Saturday are of the opinion that it is possible Kenya may not have benefitted from shared intelligence within member countries in the JCTTF initiative just before last year terrorist attack at the Westgate shopping mall.. Unbeknown to many, Westgate Shopping Mall was until the September 21 attack, the meeting place for international spies based in the Eastern and Central African region. The anti-terrorism agents had been meeting there twice a month, which raises questions as to just how Kenya’s security agents failed to predict and take precautionary measures to secure such a vulnerable facility. Westgate was also the choice shopping centre for the diplomatic community in Kenya because of it’s proximity to UN offices at Gigiri. Most diplomats also have their private residences in the neighbourhood estates of Muthaiga, Spring Valley, Kitsuru, Westlands, Loresho and Kyuna. There is a possibility, say experts, that advance warning about an impending attack on Westgate was made but not shared across the board to effect a pre-emptive strike. The Westgate situation was more or less like the case in the September 11, 2001, terrorist attack in the US, where intelligence was made available prior to the attack but not shared across various security agencies in the country. It was in the aftermath of September 11 attacks that the US came up with the idea of a combined multi-national security agency to combat international terror from any corner of the world. Because of Kenya’s strategic location and its historical ties with the US and Israel, and proximity to terrorist haven of Somalia, argue experts, it would have been wise to have the country as part and parcel of the JCTTF initiative. Coutersy: The People
Posted on: Sun, 04 May 2014 17:17:39 +0000
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