Five questions on Dusit attack, seven months later
What you need to know:
Reopening of hotel at centre of attack brought with it joy as well as queries that remain unanswered
Where are the suspects who staged the terrorist attack and what has been done ever since?
Gichunge shared the home with his wife Violet Kemunto, a young woman who cut the image of the average Nairobi girl.
Conspiracy theorists also claim that she was held by the Anti-Terror Police Unit (ATPU), interrogated, and then shot dead.
As the DusitD2 Hotel reopened on Wednesday, Captain Bootsy Mutiso, staring from his shop christened Dolce Cavallo, held a pair of shoes bearing holes from bullets fired by the terrorists who attacked the Riverside Drive Complex in the January attack.
“You can see the bullet holes in this pair of shoes and in other items in the shop. I am keeping them as a souvenir in remembrance of that ugly day. To date, I remain with several unanswered questions on what happened on that day,” the Air Force lieutenant told Nation.
Like Captain Mutiso, a number of victims of the attack rejoiced at the opening of the hotel, which is an anchor business at the complex, even as they remained with many unanswered questions, more than seven months since the attack:
1. Where is the terror princess Kemunto?
Immediately after the attack, detectives raided the home of one of the terrorists, Ali Salim Gichunge. Gichunge shared the home with his wife Violet Kemunto, a young woman who cut the image of the average Nairobi girl (her friends described her as kind, friendly and calm), but one who was believed to have been a key cog in the attacks.
Initial investigations indicated Ms Kemunto could have been the planner and financier of the attacks. There was conflicting information that after the attack, she escaped to Somalia.
Conspiracy theorists also claim that she was held by the Anti-Terror Police Unit (ATPU), interrogated, and then shot dead. Others claim she is still being held in some unknown dark cell. With the silence from ATPU, it’s difficult to know what happened to Ms Kemunto.
2. What is the state of investigations?
After the attacks, detectives arrested and interrogated dozens of individuals. Some of them were held in custody for several weeks only to be released silently.
In one of the swoops, officers arrested as many as 30 individuals.
Out of the many arrests, only six suspects are still being charged in court. The case will come for a hearing next month, September.
So far, those charged in court include Diamond Trust Bank Eastleigh Branch Manager Sophia Njoki Mbogo, who is accused of aiding and abetting the attack after she failed to report a suspicious cash transaction amounting to Sh34.7 million, and Hassan Abdi Nur, a trader who used to operate an M-Pesa business in Eastleigh.
Mr Nur allegedly registered 47 accounts in October last year using only two handsets tracked to Eastleigh but which had different identity cards and names.
3. What are the links between the DusitD2 attackers and al-Shabaab?
Investigations revealed that the attackers engaged in frequent communication with contacts in South Sudan, Ethiopia, Somalia, Norway and South Africa, revealing a terror web spreading across borders. The attack also appeared to have been well-coordinated. One of the attackers lived in a gated estate.
But, how deep this international terror ring is, is yet to be explained.
Detectives are also yet to piece together whether the attackers were from a local cell or were part of al-Shabaab militants in Somalia who came for a one-off suicidal job.
If the attackers were from a local terror cell, where are the other cell members? Where do they operate them, who finances them and what are they planning next?
4. Could the attack have been prevented?
There are concerns that several red flags about the attack may have been missed by the Kenyan government and security officers at the complex.
Whereas some of the attackers frequently visited the hotel before the attack, weeks before the raid an intelligence report had been circulated about a possible terror attack in the city. The attack also happened during the anniversary of the El Adde raid, in which almost an entire Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) battalion was wiped out by al-Shabaab militants in Somalia.
The Al-Shabaab militants have a tendency of organising attacks during anniversaries of such events. Did our security system not do enough to prevent the raid?
5. Will changes made after the attack help avoid further incidents?
After the attack, there have been several changes at the mall and in several police and military units, as well as on how the country strategises on the war on terror.
Unlike in the past, at the Riverside Drive Complex, security checks are now being done in three points. Bullish-looking German Shepherd security dogs and a private security company with men and women wearing bulletproof vests have also been introduced.
One of the key changes involves the redeployment of Munga Nyale, the long-serving head of ATPU, to the DCI headquarters’ Planning Department. He was replaced by John Gachomo, former head of the DCI department in Eastern Region.
Instead of using hard power, the government seems to have shifted to soft power. The Ministry of Interior Security has been organising talks in each of the 47 counties where security teams interact with the public, especially the youth, in discussions on how to fight extremist violence.
