KENYA COMPUTERS STOLEN FROM THE STANDARD GROUP NEWSPAPER OFFICES Headlines The horrific attack that is still fresh in Kenyans? minds: "The horrific attack that is still fresh in Kenyans? minds


By Andrew Teyie

If you want to humble an empire, it makes sense to maim its cathedrals. They are the symbols of faith and when they crumble and burn, it tells us that we are not so powerful and we cannot be safe.
Nancy Gibbs, Time Magazine 2001.

The blue towering building on Kenyatta Avenue at the City Centre and the squat one that houses The Standard Group printing press on Likoni Road in Nairobi's Industrial Area are the sanctuaries of news that our enemies imagine define us.

And when a squad of hooded police officers attacked the buildings in the wee hours of last Wednesday morning, the aim was to cow us and shake our faith as writers ? to remind us that 'we are after all not so powerful'.

The midnight attack at I&M Tower by the rapid response police unit code-named Kanga Squad was clinical, but as the goons moved to Likoni, they left a trail of foot marks, which would later identify them as police officers in the raid that is still vivid in our memories.
Here is a recap:
First, two hooded officers burst into the sixth floor reception at I & M Tower building. They were wearing orange jackets with the initials QRU printed on them, presumed to stand for Quick Response Unit.

The two blocked the security guard as two other raiders walked in and positioned themselves strategically."

One of them pinned the guard against the wall as a man in a grey suit, who looked like the leader of the operation, barked instructions.
More hooded men then walked in, all armed with G3 and AK assault rifles and they proceeded to vandalise equipment on the floor.

From the sixth floor, the raiders, who seemed to know their way around well, split into small groups, with one moving to the KTN transmission room on 14th floor.

Others targeted The Standard newspaper editorial offices on eighth floor and the second floor, to disable the CCTV surveillance cameras.
All this while, the raiders, who behaved more like hired goons than law enforcers, harassed and beat up employees on duty. Those who resisted were beaten harder and frisked for mobile phones and valuables.

The group dismantled transmission equipment, effectively putting KTN off-air before carting away computers and accessories.

The attackers arrested two employees and hauled them off to Central Police Station where they were detained for over two hours.

But before they could be booked in, instructions from the powers that were ordered their release, with the sheepish explanation that they happened to be "at the wrong place at the wrong time."

On Likoni Road, another raid was going on at 1.20 am. The balaclava-clad men arrived in 10 cars, seven of them unmarked.

The gang shot its way through the gate and demanded to be shown the printing press.

The workers, who thought they were under attack from gangsters, switched off the press and the lights, prompting the charged raiders to break the grill door to the press area.

On getting in, they vandalised the printing press and support machines, disabling it.

They beat up the supervisor and a photojournalist before proceeding to the office of the press manager, where they stole computers.

They then moved to the second floor, that houses the circulation department and grabbed car keys.

The gang then loaded the stolen computers into one vehicle.

They used another vehicle to ram the backyard access door, before making a bonfire of copies of that day’s newspaper.

All this while, uniformed police officers supervised the unbelievable act.

This was the blatant misuse of the Kanga Squad, formed by CID Director Joseph Kamau to battle hard-core criminals.

It has since emerged that the plot to invade the Standard Group was hatched at a secret meeting between National Security minister, John Michuki, Kamau and a senior State House official last Wednesday night.