African press review 6 April 2015

The Kenyan press cries for Garissa terrorism victims as the nation seeks consolation in the Pope's Easter message. And can some Easter common sense bring down relentless blood-letting on South Africa's roads?

A sense of restraint and level-headedness is clearly visible in the editorial inspiration and tone of Kenya's press as the nation begins three days of national mourning for the 148 students and police officers killed at Garissa University by Al-Shebab terrorists.

Standard Digital posts a video of the special prayer offered by Pope Francis at Saint Peter's Square on Sunday for the young Kenyans murdered. Other papers mark the patriotic moment by conveying appeals for unity and religious tolerance which dominated Easter Sunday worship across the country.

Meanwhile, photographs of the terrorists who carried out the massacre are splashed on the front pages of several dailies, with social media outlets venting their rage with biting captions. "Monster who led Shebab mass killers is unmasked", headlines Daily Nation. The paper names him as 24-year-old Mohammed Abdirahim Abdullahi, a graduate from the University of Nairobi's law faculty and son of Abdullahi Daqare, chief of Bulla Jamhuri location in Mandera County.

The Nation newspaper reveals that the blood-thirsty terrorist managed to conceal his character from his classmates by hiding behind tailored suits.

Details of his life are splashed out on social media as well with several bloggers reporting that the terrorist had a room on campus but lived in a Nairobi neighbourhood where he operated a cooking gas business.

The Kenya Star reports the arrest of five people in connection with the attack, as they tried to flee to Somalia.

Meanwhile the Standard explores allegations about a sharp rise in the radicalisation of young and highly educated Muslims willing to join Al-Shebab. Mombasa County Police Commander Robert Kitur told the Standard that they are seeing the rise of a new phenomenon, citing the recent arrests of three women from Malindi and Zanzibar in El Wak as they prepared to enter Somalia.

In South Africa, the Johannesburg Star is monitoring the angry debate which has broken out in Kenya over the response of security forces. This is amid allegations that Kenyan Special Forces took at least seven hours to deploy to a university under siege. The Standard newspaper’s editorial accuses security forces of "sleeping on the job". The cartoon depicts a snake labelled “terror threat” waking a snoring security officer with a bite, as a dog barks, “too little, too late”.

The Star explains that Kenyan Foreign Minister Amina Mohamed addressed the charges in an interview with AFP. “Fighting terrorism is like being a goalkeeper. You have 100 saves, and nobody remembers them. They remember that one that went past you”, she spoke out.

The Johannesburg Star is urging road users to keep the death toll down this Easter. Motor accidents claim an estimated 14,000 lives in the country every year, according to official statistics. The Johannesburg newspaper warns that this year the holy weekend is a particularly dangerous time, for the rainbow nation combines a long weekend, pay day and school holidays.