24 hours after a mysterious blast that rocked downtown Nairobi at Kirinyaga Road, Kenyans have more questions than answers on their minds.
Was it a terrorist attack? And if so why set off the bomb on a lazy Sunday morning when the casualties are bound to be minimal? Police have confirmed that 42 people are still admitted in various hospitals around Nairobi, six of them in critical condition.
It is not lost on close observers that the area where the huge explosion occurred has the largest concentration of illegal immigrants outside Eastleigh. Interestingly the immigrants here are mainly from Asian countries like Pakistan (coincidentally Pakistan is the country where long time terror fugitive Osama Bin Laden was finally killed.) An interesting aside here is that most of the immigrants in this district are lured to Kenya by the easy money to be made using trading skills that have been developed in highly competitive markets like India and Pakistan where the typical profit margin is a mere 5% and quite often even less than that. Traders here frequently get clean away with 50 to 100% margins and the result has been numerous cases of individuals who arrive in Nairobi paupers but turn into millionaires in a matter of months.
So is there a link between the explosion and the large population of illegal immigrants in this area? That is one of the many puzzling questions the Kenyan security forces will have to answer.
One of the alarming aspects of the explosion that is being followed up with urgency this morning is the possibility that a missile of sorts was used. Some eye witnesses claim that they saw something flying through the air moments before the explosion. Sources tell me that it is highly unlikely that a missile was used in this case but it is important that evidence is obtained quickly to rule out this.
Although no terrorist group has claimed responsibility yet, the most obvious suspicion in this case is that this is a terrorist attack and top on the list of suspects are the Al Shabab in neighbouring troubled Somalia. This bunch of unruly youngsters who have no qualms about laying down their lives have continued to gain strength in the region with successful attacks in Uganda and even on Kenyan soil with the Kampala coach bus bombing last year.
Nairobians are deeply disturbed by this recent development which may be a demonstration of just how vulnerable Kenyans are to acts of terrorism. Not surprising when every immigrant from Somalia knows that all one needs to get into Kenya is enough cash to bribe officials. Contrast this to neighbouring Tanzania where fear of radical Somalis has caused the Tanzanians to closely guard their borders against them. Indeed it is very difficult for Somali nationals (even thgose of goodwill) to gain entry into Tanzania through the Namanga border and other entry points into Tanzania through Kenya. Clearly Tanzanians have something that Kenyans don’t have. Namely the kind of patriotism that rises above the personal selfish needs of an individual to make a quick buck not caring what the consequences may be.
Because the truth is that if indeed the explosion was deliberately caused by a bpomber, chances are high that the person was a foreigner and that that they gained entry into the country by bribing an immigration official and policemen at roadblocks all the way to Nairobi.
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Oh, it is that Power of Nightmares which we the CHILDREN must rescued from by our DADDY (the State) once again:
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arson
ReplyDeleteThe moment Kenyans allowed Raila to appoint Kajwang, a crook who has been cast out of the bar indefinately, I knew that Kenya would be auctioned to any willing buyer.
ReplyDeleteWe are reaping what we sowed by singing tinga and his crooks.
Why are some of us not so surprised at all by the shoddy jobs that continue to be done within the police force, immigration department, call it ministry if you will and the long abandoned neighbourhood watch that was the first line of defense for ordinary Kenyans?
ReplyDeleteWell, if there is one very valuable component that some of us lack, then it would be a warped sense of patriotism and the once cherished vigilance-cum-defense, as in 'Us vs Them' (domestic and foreign enemies of Kenya).
As matter of fact patriotism is none existent, it's dead (zilch, zero, nada, bupkis, kasoro) in the minds, hearts and souls of so many Kenyans because our actions speak louder than what we profess on any given day.
Not so longer, foreign women ('Delilahs') were the order of many weekend sleepovers and trophy contests among commissioned officers based at MAB, LAB, DoD (Hurlingham), Nyali ('One Five' - RIP), Mtongwe, Garissa, Mandera, Eldoret, Lanet, Embakasi and Thika.
Enough about the talk of lack of security at our nation's major defense installations and the cavalier attitude among some of its COs, immigration officials, police officers, gatekeepers (border patrol units) and the so called watchers whose only job is to 'watch the watchers' 24/7.
As for the average civilian, it's all a different ball game altogether when it comes to schmoozing and cozying up with Trojan horses (stallions and mares) during the dating, mating and what-have-you seasons.
Kenyans can be as strong as Samson of old when duty calls, but we are as guilty as he was when it comes to betraying ourselves as well as uttering out the real secrets of our nation's strength during our moments of spontaneous weakness.
There lies our nation's Achilles heel and the ghost of yesteryears that still haunt us in 2011.
Allow me to indulge Kumekucha with some digression for a moment.
ReplyDeleteMy gosh! A United States Representative A.D, Weiner, makes Kenyan MPs look like saints and very honourable members of parliament when it comes to the department of all things commonsense.
One reason why some American congressmen never cease to amaze, or as my uncle would say, "wana mambo ya ajaabu ajaabu, huku na kule".
Some politicians never seem to learn from the painful past, their fallen colleagues and disgraced members of congress to the point where the public is always left wondering what the hell was the representative thinking?
And don't tell the public that a person in his high profile position would be damn enough to go ahead and send explicit photos on twitter then turn around and blame a ghost hacker for manipulating (glazing over) the photos.
The same congressman spent busy days making his denial rounds before various news media and refuting allegations that as an adult male, respectful representative of his constituents, morally upright citizen, conscientious politician, member of congress and a husband, he didn't sent women explicit photos of himself on more than one than one occasion.
But being caught in one lie after another, he decided to come clean and admit his stupidity of sending the the explicit photos as well as for trying to deny away the fact he was the person potrayed in the same explicit photos sent out to several women he had never met in person.
He's apologized but he will not be resigning from his congressional seat after having disgraced himself, wife, family, friends, constituents, colleagues, political party, the chamber and the league of all offended women as well as concerned descent women of America.
in the meantime, the dust is patient, it's brewing a cloud while eagerly awaiting him to bite the dust when the time comes either through voluntary departure or a forced exit from Capital Hill.
Who is soiling Kumekucha with stories that only interest those seeking economic assylum in the former land of milk and honey? Or as they say, who the f$%% gives a sh^&!!
ReplyDeleteUhuru Park bomb blast which killed half a dozen innocent Kenyans is yet to be solved one year on thanks to our inept, corrupt and ridiculously incompetent thuggish cops.
ReplyDeleteKenya, not surprisingly, has thus become a safe haven for illegal immigrants, terrorists, drug barons, gold smugglers even theft of public resources is encouraged by the Govt's failure to act. Why hire a lawyer when you can buy a judge?
On this Kirinyaga blast, don't hold your breath waiting for our Juha Kalulu cops to solve the bomb mystery when they can't even solve a straight forward case of olympic champion Wanjiru's murder.
Imagine for a minute that the blast had caused deaths of some big shot politicians possibly addressing a rally down there? Dozens of suspects would have by now been arrested, a swoop in Eastleigh would have netted hundreds of illegal aliens and a cache of rocket launchers. But on this case it's the "pumbavu" mechanics that are casualties, so who gives a rat's ass?
Perhaps the police should just send Inspecta Mwala down there. He could certainly do a better job than them and quite fast!
Yes it was a Terrorist attack,and this I got from a source employed there.The government seems to be more concerned about travel bans, but the bomb was not intended for there (a likely choice would be somwhere populated where the impact would be felt, e.g a busy day...right?) Im told there was a problem and whoever was putting it together, in an abandoned building behind the station had to leave it (escape). And yes there are a lot of Pakistanis illegally residing in that part of town. would they bring attention to themselves by detonanting a bomb in their den? I leave that for you to answer
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