Terror in Nairobi
Florence Radull | Friday May 16, 2014 16:39
“My South African fiancée works for the United Nations and he was recently transferred to Nairobi. Since we didn’t manage to spend the Easter break together, he suggested I visit him at his new posting,” says the 34-year-old business woman, who hails from Tonota.
She was giddy with excitement the week before the trip as she had only previously travelled in the Southern African region.
“I prepared for the trip by reading up on Kenya so I wouldn’t look so ignorant and would be knowledgeable on the East African powerhouse. I did pause when I read about the recent terror attacks that have plagued the country but my fiancée assured me that we would be outside the city of Nairobi and getting caught in any such incidences would be out of the question,” she says.
The flight and arrival in Nairobi went smoothly. After re-uniting with her loved one, he whisked her off to the Safari Park Hotel and Casino in Kasarani.
The expansive Four Star Hotel stands on 60 acres on what is considered the outskirts of Nairobi – 20 minutes drive from the city’s Central Business District along the Thika Super Highway.
The day after her arrival was filled with visits to the Nairobi National Game Park and taking in the museum and other tourist sites, Selalame says the only damper on an otherwise perfect day was the intense security they were subjected to at all the malls they visited.
“At first I thought the opening of cars, bomb detectors under cars and body searches as you enter shopping malls were a trifle extreme, but my partner assured me that due to the threats and recent attacks by the Al Shabaab group based in Somalia, all the precautions were necessary,” she says.
The September 2013 terror incident at the Westgate Mall in Nairobi, in which 67 people lost their lives also crossed her mind.
After the sightseeing they retired to the hotel for an evening of wining and dining.
To their shock and horror reports of twin bomb attacks in the port city of Mombasa filled every news bulletin that evening. “The reports about the simultaneous bombings in Mombasa struck fear in our hearts but you know how us humans are.... always grateful that it happened somewhere else and not to you,” she says. They spent the better part of the evening glued to their tv screens trying to gather as much information as they could on the Mombasa incident, totally oblivious to what was to happen the next day.
“I must admit I felt a little uneasy, being so far from home and never having experienced similar incidents in my life but assurances from officials from the security services calmed my frayed nerves a little. That night I slept with a Rosary in my hand and said a prayer every time I turned over,” Selalame says.
An early morning phone call from her mother in Francistown to find out about the news of the bombings did not help calm her nerves either. “My mother was worried that maybe I was in the same city as where the bombs had exploded but I assured her that the distance was similar to Gaborone from Francistown,” she explains.
It was later confirmed that the explosions in Mombasa were due to a grenade being hurled into a bus that had just arrived from Nairobi, while the other was the result of an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) that was detonated outside a beach hotel. There were no casualties in the hotel incident but three people were killed on the bus, while 20 were injured.
“Sunday morning dawned bright and promising and after a buffet breakfast we decided to spend a lazy day within the hotel grounds – a wise move we would come to realise,” she says.
As the sun set, the couple ordered drinks and sat on the balcony to soak up the disappearing sunshine.
“Just after 5pm we heard what we could only describe as a loud bang followed by screeching vehicle tyres and panicked shouting and screaming. The gittery nerves from the night before returned and we immediately went to hotel employees to investigate, trying not to believe that the danger might have hit so close to us,” she explains.
They made their way to the hotel’s reception to make enquiries. There was orderly chaos in the deserted lobby as the hotel staff, being professionals, did not want to alarm guests without having the full picture of what was going on, and some of them had gone off to investigate.
“While we were still trying to find out what the source of the bang had been, news started filtering in that another explosion had occurred further down the same highway. I ran back to our room and immediately started packing,” she says, her voice breaking even now, days after the event.
“My fiancée, always the logical one, explained to me that if the explosions were happening on the highway, clearly the last thing we should do would be to get onto the same highway,” she says.
The panicked Selalame did not know whether to attempt to leave or stay but logic prevailed and she stayed put. She closed the balcony windows to shut out the sounds of wailing and sirens that could be heard from the scenes. “We later learned that three people died in the blasts, while 86 were wounded. Thankfully due to the fact that it was a Sunday the usually busy highway was not congested. The death toll would have certainly been higher had it been a week day,” she says.
The always calm Selalame explains how she frantically called Kenya Airways trying to book the first flight back to Gaborone but the earliest booking she could get without buying another ticket was for Wednesday morning. That night they sat glued to their tv, hardly talking, just soaking up news of the bombings.
By Monday no group had yet claimed responsibility for the attacks but it is highly suspected that supporters of Al Shabaab were behind the incidences.
On the same day Kenya’s Deputy President William Ruto announced that the country would not pull its troops out of Somalia and that Kenyans will not be intimidated by terrorists.
“The government will not allow terrorists to dictate or blackmail us into changing our foreign policy, Ruto told reporters. “We will not withdraw until Somalia has a stable and secure government free from terror,” he added.
As Selalame finally touched down in Gaborone last week Wednesday, she was still in a mild state of shock. She reveals how the drive from the hotel to the airport in Nairobi was the longest she had ever endured.
“It’s never nice when your first experience in a foreign country is marred by such senseless violence. The resilience and strength of the Kenyan people will see them through this phase and I believe they will prevail over Al Shabaab,” she says, thankful for the hospitality she received despite what was happening the incidents.
After settling back home Selalame, who is still understandable jumpy when she hears loud noises, was shocked to hear about the recent bomb scares in Gaborone and Francistown while she was away.
“I thought I left bombings in East Africa, this is frightening,” she said in parting.
Last month 2000 people, of Somali origin, were arrested in Nairobi, with some of them being deported, as the Kenyan government continued its crackdown on suspected Al Shabaab supporters.
Kenya first sent its troops into Somalia in 2011 after Al Shabaab members conducted raids and kidnappings of foreign tourists off the Kenyan coast. The troops are now part of an African Union force supporting the fragile internationally-backed government.