I am angry at what happened at Westgate Mall in Nairobi on the morning of Saturday the 21st September 2013 and it is as shocking to me as much as it is to the rest of Kenya and the world at large. I add my condolences message to the families of those who have needlessly lost their lives in that siege and continue to pray for the speedy recovery of those injured by the callous terrorists who opened fire indiscriminately on innocent men, women and children collateral targets in a war they have little knowledge and understanding off. Even though I was not directly affected by the events, I was very traumatized over that weekend and a stiff uncharacteristic drink late on Saturday night is what enabled me to get some semblance of sleep with the disturbing nightmares coming back to haunt me on Sunday night as we waited to see what would come out of the standoff that thanfully now as I finalise this article seems all but over.
I have decided to write this piece in my anger because some anger makes one say things that they would not ordinarily say. A great many opinions have come out of this incident and will continue to come through in the days and weeks to come and one of them was narrated to me over the weekend by a close friend whose wife and daughter were caught up in the action but thankfully were unscathed in the ensuing commotion. This person says that he shall no longer take his personal security as well as that of his family for granted and he is getting himself a firearm and before you are all up in arms (pun intended) about it, he will follow the due process of getting a permit and follow all the requirements of the law and not get one of those bootleg guns you get in some border areas, or so I hear, in this country.
Why his sudden interest in owning a firearm? Why the sudden conclusion that the police force does not offer adequate protection to you, your family and your property? His argument is based on the logic that an incident such as the one that happened at Westgate Mall could not have happened in the neighboring countries of Uganda and Tanzania simply because a large number of civilians in those countries are licensed firearm holders. Many of the security guards in those countries are also armed with a variety of small arms and would have immediately have subjected the armed assailants to a barrage of small arms fire sufficient to kill or wound a few or all the attackers and force the rest to back off. I suppose this is the reason why Al Shabab terrorists chose to detonate an explosive device that killed scores of people in Kampala a few years ago rather than go in guns blazing with all the risks of being shot at by those you are targeting!!
Here in Kenya, with all due respect the guards armed with their ‘rungus’ and walkie talkies as well as the civilian population going about their daily business were sitting ducks literally at Westgate. When heavily armed gunmen alight from vehicles and begin shooting randomly and indiscriminately into crowds of people with little or no return fire you can be sure they shall overwhelm whatever little resistance there shall be. His argument therefore is to allow civilians and security guards to bear arms so that the battle lines are not skewed so awkwardly in favor of those with the guns against the majority without.
He further goes on to say that the reason we have such brazen armed criminals in Kenya is because they know that they will get away with threatening you even with an unloaded firearm simply because the possibility that you are armed is quite remote. Unless trained in the art of handling a firearm, many people cannot distinguish between a real gun and a toy one something that thugs have taken full advantage off. Arming civilians means that an armed criminal will have to think twice before attacking someone.
While on a visit to Kampala about a year ago, I was pleasantly surprised to learn that one can walk in all areas of the city at any time of the day or night without fear of being harassed or molested simply because no one will dare risk attacking you lest he gets shot dead so the crime rate is generally much lower than in Nairobi. In Nairobi, you stand to get "ngetad", knifed or smeared with excrement by the common hoodlum between the hours of 7.00 pm and 6.00 am as you get your phone, handbag and wallet stolen because the only resistance you are likely to offer is almost non existant!
I am not saying that I necessarily agree or disagree with the argument that many guns in the hands of civilians shall result in many more incidences of accidental shootings and an escalation in the crime rate, but how many have felt completely helpless when confronted by a gun toting gangster who robs you, beats you up, rapes your wife and children and probably sodomises you also and casually walks away probably never to be apprehended. Don’t you wish that if you had a gun you would have attempted to use it to injure or kill this thug who has invaded your personal space and has violated your family? Would you rather have had a better chance of protecting your family if armed with a firearm in such an instant and giving yourself a slim chance of salvaging your pride rather than no chance at all? This is the overwhelming reaction that those that have been caught up in these situations invariably feel or so I have been told countless times because the vulnerability of being unable to defend yourself or your family simply because someone has a gun while you don’t is the most frightening thing that can happen to someone!!
This particular issue is mired in controversy the world over with those arguing for and those arguing against such a case of civilians holding legal firearms. The reality on the ground as has been admitted countless times by our law enforcers is that there are too many illegal guns in the hands of the wrong people and this drives a thriving criminal underworld with guns for hire at a relatively cheap cost. Secondly, what came out of the Westgate attack is that Kenya is actually at war with Al Shabab and Al Qaeda types who will not hesitate to mow down deadly soldiers including toddlers, children and women in furtherance of their twisted political agendas. Why then should I not also be able to protect myself as a soldier in this war that will be brought to my doorstep?
The powers that be need to come to the realization that while we have a police force that is supposed to protect us, the force is severely constrained in terms of numbers and therefore in their abilities to respond to my calls for assistance as well as in access to reliable vehicles and other resources needed to ensure that I get their help when I need it. It is up to the policy makers to grapple with the delicate issue of enabling laws and how to control and manage a process where the owning of a firearm is a basic citizens right but it has happened in other countries and there is no need to reinvent the wheel.
So, with the recent incident in mind and me still being mad as hell, is it time to consider arming civilians willing to follow due process of the law in obtaining a firearm, with full training of handling and using of a firearm more so now that the Al Shabab and Al Qaeda militia have shown that they are hell bent on creating havoc in our midst since they know that there shall be little or no resistance from the general civilian population in Kenya if they attack us? My friends argument seems to suggest that it is.
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