NAIROBI, Kenya-- After weeks of denying stealing anything from the
Westgate Mall following attacks by the al-Shaaabab, the Kenya Defence
Forces have finally admitted they stole bottled water from one of the
supermarkets. This came on the wake of the latest damning CCTV footage
showing soldiers walking away with Nakumatt shopping bags.
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| only 'Crystal' clear bottled water with the KEBS 'Diamond' mark of quality made it into those shopping bags |
"Our soldiers just borrowed a few bottles of water. They were
thirsty. We were going to pay for them afterwards " said Major Emmanuel
Chirchir, the Kenya Military Spokesman.
Reports of the KDF stealing water from the mall started doing
rounds on social media a few days after the four day siege with shop owners
in the mall reporting smashed water coolers,
dispensers and Styrofoam plastic cups in their shops. The Military initially
denied everything with the Army General Julius Karangi saying this was
Propaganda by the al-Shabaab to make them look bad.
“Am not saying anyone stole anything. What am saying is that 70percent of our pre attack bottled
water stock was un accounted for, post
attack and that’s a lot of bottled water
for a supermarket” said Thiagarajan Ramamurthy, Director Nakumatt Holdings.
“It must have been the
al-Shabaab. We only took a few bottles. They use water before they pray and we
have video evidence they prayed a lot in there you know” said General Karangi.
Most Kenyans were shocked by the reports from the beginning considering
the Military is held in high esteem as the most disciplined forces on the
continent and called for the immediate arrest of the soldiers involved but the
military said that would be a bit tricky.
Since the CCTV footage didn’t capture the soldier’s faces directly
it would be hard to profile. But he called upon the members of public who have
watched the video to come forward with any clues which could identify the rogue
soldiers like their height, build and the way they walked.
But some Kenyans sympathetic to the KDF wondered what all the
fuss was about.
“ it’s not like it’s Abu Ghraib
or somebody used Sarin. It’s just our own little ‘Watergate” said Sam
Amungo a Paralegal.
Meanwhile, 15 top immigration officials were fired as a result of
the Westgate events including, but not limited to the missing bottled water.
