Former State House Chief of Staff Nzioka Waita, on Thursday, June 15, was hard-pressed to explain his decision to divulge information about a command centre established in the office of former Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang'i during the January 2019 Dusit attack.
In a tweet, he deleted after facing backlash, Waita shared comprehensive behind-the-scenes details of how top security officials countered the attack that claimed 22 lives.
Waita also shared a photo of the senior security top officials crammed into Matiang'i's office as they strategized their response to the incident. He also divulged how the officials coordinated with the security team on the ground while briefing Former President Uhuru Kenyatta.
However, the former Machakos gubernatorial seat aspirant encountered heavy criticism for what many argued was leaking confidential information.
Some of his critics argued that unauthorised disclosure of classified intelligence information can harm the nation's security.
In his defense, Waita explained that he shared the details to appreciate the work done by the security team - particularly the immediate the former Director General of the National Intelligence Service (NIS) Major General Philip Kameru.
"To those younglings hating on my tweet about the Dusit response and for recognising the great work of those involved. Please calm down and take a deep breath, in time, you’ll learn not to take yourselves too seriously and start to dedicate your bundles to less vitriolic pastimes.
"At some point, you shall hopefully come to the realisation that not everything involving service to the public needs to be viewed from a political perch," he countered.
According to Nzioka - the 2019 operation was a turning point in Uhuru's security strategy particularly due to the shortcomings observed in previous terrorist attacks like the Westgate Mall incident in 2013 and the Garissa University attack. These earlier incidents were marked by inadequate coordination among agencies, decision-making errors, and delays in response, which necessitated a significant shift in approach.
He added that the senior security officials needed to be celebrated owing to their dedication to saving and safeguarding Kenyan lives.
"It is a fact that Kenya’s security fraternity learned from its past mistakes with Westgate and Garissa University under (former) President Kenyatta, the entire security architecture was reorganised to reflect those learnings with demonstrated positive results.
"You cannot minimise or take away the positive contributions of those key actors to Kenya’s peace and security simply because you are of a different political persuasion," Nzioka added.
On the other hand, he cautioned that the current administration under President William Ruto would face similar challenges but expressed confidence that its 'heroes' would emerge victorious.
