KENYA FORCES ‘STORM WESTGATE CENTRE’

Gunfire and explosions were heard at the complex and a cloud of smoke could be seen billowing from the building.

Television pictures showed troops running towards the complex. About 10 attackers were thought to be inside.

More than 69 people have died and more than 170 have been injured since the attack began on Saturday.

The Somali al-Shabab movement has said it carried out the attack.

It said it was in retaliation for Kenyan military operations in Somalia.

PREZZO ON RUNAWAY AFTER ALLEGEDLY ASSAULTING SWISS MILITARY OFFICER

NAIROBI; KENYA: CONTROVERSIAL MUSICIAN PREZZO IS ON THE RUN AFTER HE WAS INVOLVED IN A GUN FIGHT OUTSIDE A POPULAR CLUB IN NAIROBI’S WESTLANDS AREA.

Police say they want Prezzo aka Jackson Makini to report to Parklands Police Station for grilling after he allegedly assaulted a Swiss military officer in the head with gun butt and holster on Saturday morning.

The two are said to have been involved in an argument outside Aqua Bar over a parking slot at about 3am.

According to Gigiri Division police boss Vitalis Otieno,Prezzo had obstructed the military colonel fromSwitzerland which prompted the argument.

“When the military officer came back ready to go, an argument broke out over the parking slot which degenerated to an assault using a gun. We want him to report at Parklands,” said Otieno.

The military officer is attached to Amisom and was headed to Ethiopia Saturday morning when the incident occurred. He was forced to cancel his flight. Otieno said he was treated and discharged from MP Shah Hospital.

And after the drama, Prezzo is said to have tried to cock and shoot at the officer who was bleeding at that time.

Otieno cited witnesses who said Prezzo was restrained by his bodyguards who dragged him to his car and drove off.

A hunt on him was on-going on Saturday morning even as police appealed to him to surrender.

Police visited his home but they did not find him.

It’s not clear if Prezzo is a licensed gun holder. We could not reach him for a comment over the allegations as his mobile phone was switched off.

By Cyrus Ombati, The Standard

DAR FILM FESTIVAL SET TO TAKE OFF SEPTEMBER 24

HAAK NEEL PRODUCTION COMPANY IN COLLABORATION WITH A NETWORK OF INFORMATION FILM HAS ORGANISED A DAR FILM FESTIVAL (DFF) AIMED AT ENABLING MANY TANZANIANS TO PARTICIPATE IN SWAHILI MOVIES.

Coordinator Staford Kihore said in Dar es Salaam on Monday that the festival will motivate Tanzanians to watch Swahili films. The festival will be held in Dar es Salaam from September 24 to 26 this year and Swahili films will be screened to improve Kiswahili language and introduce them as important products in the country.

“This is the first festival and we intent to screen Tanzania Swahili films only. In the second festival we will include other Swahili movie from different parts using Kiswahili,” Kihoro said.

He added that due to the advancement of the local film industry, different actors from all regions in the country will perform during the threeday festival. “The festival will consider all people in the country especially film stakeholders and all youths who will get the opportunity to showcase their films,” he noted.

Kihoro said a seminar for all film stakeholders and participants will be conducted during the festival in order to provide more opportunity for them to get accustomed to the film industry in the country.

He thanked government institutions, movie board and local actors for their support in preparing the DFF. Others are Tanzania Film Federation (TAFF), Leo Media and Proin Promotion Company. Kihoro called upon all Tanzanians to love Swahili film so as to improve Kiswahili language within and outside the country.

By FATMA ABDU, Tanzania Daily News

TANZANIA FILM STAKEHOLDERS ASSIST POLICY MAKING PROCESS

FILM STAKEHOLDERS ARE TAKING STEPS TOWARDS HELPING THE GOVERNMENT PRODUCE AN UP-TO-DATE POLICY FOR THE SECTOR.

From funds given by the Masaki-based BESTAC Company the Tanzania Film Federation (TAFF) has employed the expertise of a South Africa-based film consultant, Martin Cuff.

The specialist in economic development using film had the task of spearheading the research into establishing a national film policy.

Local stakeholders within the creative industry gathered on Monday and Tuesday this week to compile suggested inputs to the new policy, which will be handed over to the government.

“Hopefully the government will want to take into consideration what members of the industry have prepared to be cooperated into the new policy,” TAFF’s President Simon Mwakifwamba told the ‘Daily News’ after Tuesday’s session.

He further explained that before the two-day session with stakeholders, Cuff had spent 15 days in the country visiting more than seven ministries to research on the issue. By the end of the workshops stakeholders were asked to present their suggestions for the new policy.

Cuff told the stakeholders’ one of the main things, which had come to light during the course of the research, is the existing gap between the current cultural policy, which highlights how local culture is managed through film and the “new knowledge economy” of film as a business.

He maintains that allows the film industry to move from a “small cottage industry” into something that can dramatically contribute to the economy. “At the moment Tanzania is not going to move forward unless there is a film policy that allows it to override the pure cultural elements and move towards dramatic, economic business-based policy for films,” said Cuff.

“All over the world governments have been looking at how films can create jobs and boost more businesses together, contributing towards the county’s branding.”

Another thing he noticed that came up repeatedly is the failure of the existing government processes to create an enabling environment for film. He found out that most of the existing policy around film is about managing culture, almost from a censorship perspective without any guidelines from the government on culture.

The problem becomes graver when it is taken into affect that the world has changed very quickly. “When the government first started to write a film policy in 2004, we weren’t even using websites and now distribution is on line, production studios are on line,” Cuff said.

By IMAN MANI, Tanzania Daily News

Somalia Al-Shabab claims Nairobi Westgate Kenya attack

A senior figure in the Somali militant group al-Shabab has told the BBC it carried out a deadly attack on a shopping centre in neighbouring Kenya.

A wounded man is escorted outside the Westgate Mall, an upscale shopping mall in Nairobi, Kenya Saturday Sept. 21 2013, where shooting erupted when armed men attempted to rob a shop, according to police. Witnesses say a half dozen grenades also went off along with volleys of gunfire in and around the mall. (AP Photo)

Al-Shabab, which has links to al-Qaeda, said the attack was in response to Kenya’s presence in Somalia, where its troops have been fighting the militants since 2011.

A senior Kenyan security official has put the death toll at 11.
However, the Red Cross says at least 30 people were killed and dozens injured.

On its Twitter feed, al-Shabab, which has links to al-Qaeda, said it was behind what it called the “Westgate spectacle”.

The attackers entered the Westgate centre at about 12:00 local time (09:00 GMT), throwing grenades and firing automatic weapons.
Dozens of shoppers fled; many were trapped inside. Officers have been going shop to shop to secure the area.
Al-Shabab also said on Twitter that its fighters were still battling Kenyan security forces inside the Westgate centre, some seven hours after the assault began.
One gunman was arrested, Kenyan officials said.
The permanent secretary in the Internal Security Ministry, Mutea Iringo, said special forces were “evacuating civilians and searching for the criminals”.
Some witnesses said Muslims were told to leave and that non-Muslims would be targeted.
“They came and said: ‘If you are Muslim, stand up. We’ve come to rescue you,” said Elijah Lamau.
He said the Muslims left with their hands up, and then the gunmen shot two people.
The US state department says it has reports that American citizens were injured in what it called “a senseless act of violence”.
The BBC’s David Okwembah, in Nairobi, says this is one of the worst incidents in Kenya since the attack on the US embassy in August 1998.

-          Agencies

Over 30 dead as army, elite units battle Nairobi gunmen

NAIROBI – Kenyan troops and elite units  joined police fighting gunmen in Nairobi’s upmarket Westgate shopping mall, an AFP correspondent at the scene said. 

A policeman carry’s a baby to safety after masked gunmen stormed an upmarket mall and sprayed gunfire on shoppers and staff

The gunmen sprayed gunfire, before holing themselves up in the complex with hostages. Thirty people are confirmed to have been killed, a senior police official said. The Red Cross said  another 50 wounded in the attack.
“The death toll is now standing at 30, this includes those who have died at the scene and at the hospital,” the official told reporters.
Troops moved around and inside the shopping centre, where unidentified gunmen launched an assault with automatic weapons and grenades shortly before midday.
A security source at the scene said Kenyan special forces were involved in operations to secure the mall and evacuate trapped staff shoppers.
Military and police helicopters were also flying overhead.
Witnesses said the gunmen spoke Arabic or Somali and executed shoppers, in what appeared to be the worst attack in Nairobi since an Al-Qaeda bombing at the US embassy killed more than 200 in 1998.
As security forces were trying to secure a multi-screen cinema complex on the mall’s top floor, a police source said it had been confirmed that the attackers were holding at least seven hostages.
An AFP reporter said she saw at least 20 people rescued from a toy shop. Dozens of wounded, some of them bleeding children, were stretchered away from the mall.
A shop manager who managed to escape said at one point “it seemed that the shooters had taken control of all the mall”.
“They spoke something that seemed like Arabic or Somali,” said a man who escaped the mall and gave his name only as Jay. “I saw people being executed after being asked to say something.”
Shocked people — black, white and Indian — could be seen running away from the Westgate centre clutching children while others crawled along walls to avoid stray bullets.
‘I saw people being executed’
The mall — which has several Israeli-owned businesses, is a hub for Nairobi-based Westerners and one of the foremost symbols of Kenya’s affluent classes — has long been considered a potential terror target.
Kenneth Kerich, who was shopping when the attack happened, described scenes of panic.
“I suddenly heard gunshots and saw everyone running around so we lied down. I saw two people who were lying down and bleeding, I think they were hit by bullets,” he said.
“Initially we thought it is police fighting thugs. But we could not leave until when officers walked in, shot in the air and told us to get out.”
An eyewitness who survived the assault by gunmen said he saw the body of a child being wheeled out of the mall.
“The gunmen tried to fire at my head but missed. At least 50 people were shot. There are definitely many casualties,” mall employee Sudjar Singh told AFP.
“I saw a young boy carried out on a shopping cart, it looked like he was about 5 or 6. It looked like he was gone, he was not moving or making any noise.”
Vehicles riddled with bullet holes were left abandoned in front of the mall as the Red Cross appealed for blood donations and police instructed residents of the Westlands neighbourhood to stay away.
“Our officers are on the ground carrying out an evacuation of those inside as they search for the attackers who are said to be inside,” Inspector General of Police David Kimaiyo said.
“We have managed to evacuate some people to safety. We urge Kenyans to avoid the area as we pursue the thugs,” Kenya’s interior ministry said on Twitter.
The Westgate mall, which opened in 2007, has restaurants, cafes, banks, a large supermarket and a cinema that attract thousands of people every day and have made it a Nairobi landmark.
It is popular with the large expatriate community living in the residential neighbourhoods around it, including with foreign staff from the United Nations, which has its third largest global centre nearby.
Security agencies have regularly included the Westgate shopping centre on lists of sites they feared could be targeted by Al Qaeda-linked groups.
The Somali insurgents from the Shebab group have repeatedly threatened to strike at the heart of Kenya in retaliation for Nairobi’s military involvement alongside the government they are trying to overthrow.

-          AFP