- The service has installed a reliable surveillance system in major towns and cities and procured modern security equipment.
- A court sentenced two men to 33 and 18 years in prison for their roles in the 2013 attack.
Image: NPS
The September 21, 2013 Westgate terror attack served police with important lessons, Inspector General of police Hilary Mutyambai has said.
While marking a low-key eighth anniversary of the attack, the police boss said the loss of lives and property pushed them to stretch their limits in protecting Kenyans and their properties.
“Westgate served us important lessons. It has been a period of reflection and strengthening our capacity as a service. We sympathise with the families that lost loved ones,” he said in a statement.
Authorities’ poor response to the siege brought the country’s preparedness under sharp scrutiny. This despite four gunmen dying during the attack and it has never been proven whether others escaped.
Over 70 people were killed in the four-day siege at the mall.
Last October, a court sentenced two men to 33 and 18 years in prison for their roles in the 2013 attack.
Mohamed Ahmed Abdi and Hussein Hassan Mustafa are accused of assisting al-Shabaab extremists, who masterminded the four-day siege on the upscale mall at Kenyas' capital.
The whereabouts of a third defendant, Libyan Abdullah Omar remains unknown.
Omar, who was acquitted in the trial early October 2020, was allegedly taken by gunmen.
Mutyambai said they have enhanced police presence in security installations across the country.
“Further, the service installed a reliable surveillance system in major towns and cities and procured modern security equipment.”
“We have also improved individual capacities of police officers and stakeholders by training of police reservists, enhanced training to special units and decentralisation of special units to counties.
"We have also invested in sector-based highway patrols with a seamless command, police escorts in insecure areas, provision of ordinary police vehicles and specialised carriers,” he said.
The police boss said they have unveiled a robust grassroots countering of violent extremism, by networking with communities in preventing terrorism and building resilience in communities.
Unlike in the past, he added, multi-agency cooperation within the security apparatuses has improved.
This, he argued coupled with an efficient command structure and intelligence led approaches has greatly enhanced our operational readiness.
“So much has been going on in the background to protect Kenyans and their properties. This is a vow we took. This is a promise we have kept. We shall achieve more when we join hands as Kenyans.”
In the security sector, each unit has formed response teams dedicated to counterterrorism response.
They are getting more training sessions and exposure to help them handle any form of crisis.
(Edited by Bilha Makokha)