State House Spokesman Manoah Esipisu addresses the press in the past. Mr
Esipisu on April 9, 2015 admitted lapses in government response to
Garissa University massacre that claimed 148 lives. PHOTO | FILE |
NATION MEDIA GROUP.
The government has admitted that there were
lapses in security response to Garissa University College terror attack
that left 148 people dead.
State
House Spokesperson Manoah Esipisu on Thursday told editors in Nairobi
that there were shortcomings in dealing with the Al-Shabaab massacre.
“Did
we do something wrong in Garissa? Yes of course. It is always a
learning curve. The only person with all cards is a terrorist. He knows
where and when, what time. You react. In reacting, there are always time
lapses. You have to react and plan,” said Mr Esipisu in response to
mounting criticism by the media and the public on the government
approach.
DEFENDED NKAISSERY
He
went on: “You have to prepare for that ground. It is not as if you are
dealing with known variables. You are dealing with a terrorist scenario.
This is not a joke at all.”
He said the government wanted to save as many lives as possible at the university that had 815 students.
“It
is not something you go about without challenges. You have to plan.
There may be delays in operations. You are dealing with lives in this
case. You want to save as many as possible,” said Mr Esipisu.
He
defended the early arrival of Interior Cabinet Secretary Joseph
Nkaissery and Inspector-General of Police Joseph Boinnet to Garissa
instead of the security forces, saying the helicopter that ferried the
two had capacity of three passengers only.
10-HOUR DELAY
Therefore,
Mr Esipusu noted, the chopper could not ferry the more than 25 Recce
Company officers to the scene of the attack on time.
The Recce Squad landed in Garissa at 1.56pm despite the alarm having been raised at 6am.
On
accusations of killing the morale of officers who fell the terrorists
by paying them Sh500 allowance, Mr Esipisu said the work of the security
officers was to save lives and allowance was not a priority at that
moment.
Mr Esipisu also denied claims that the UK government had shared intelligence on the attack with the Kenyan government.
UK SLAMMED
“We
do not deny that we have some security challenges but countries that
work together share information and decide on how best to combat the
enemy. They do not go to market place and shout,” he said.
Kenya has and continues to share intelligence information with the US and Israel but that is not the case with UK, he said.
He said the government embraces criticism of all nature but insisted that it must be based on facts.
Kenya, he said, is at war and Kenyans must know that.
Information and Communication Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang'i, who hosted the editors, asked Kenyan media to be patriotic.
“We
expect the media to work with the government instead of focusing on the
negatives alone. The media is part of the Kenyan society and we have to
work together for the common good,” he said.
HIGH PRICE
Kenya Editors Guild chairman Linus Kaikai asked the government to up its game in handing such crisis .
He
regretted that the government had learnt nothing from Mpeketoni,
Mandera Bus and Mandera quarry attacks that happened last year.
“The
Garissa University College has, therefore, become the high price we pay
for simply failing to learn from the Westgate, Madera and Mpeketoni
attacks. This is the costly cycle that we must as Kenyans commit to
break,” said Mr Kaikai.
Former Kenya Editors Guild
Chairman Macharia Gaitho said the government should fix the security so
that it does not get worried about travel advisories that are issued
frequently by Western countries.
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