Written By:VPPS
Saturday, July 25, 2009
The Campaign which kicked off during a leaders meeting at the Garissa Government Guest House in Garissa will cover all districts in the province and is conducted by religious leaders, Members Parliament, civic leaders and women leaders among other groups.
The Vice President reiterated that Kenya will not send troops to Somalia but will ensure that her borders are guarded against aggression from the war torn Somalia.
Mr. Musyoka opened a peace and security conference involving Members of Parliament, Sheikhs, civic and women and youth leaders among other grassroots leaders.
In attendance were Defense Minister, Yusuf Haji, Internal Security Minister, George Saitoti, Development of Northern Kenya Minister, Mohamed Elmi, several Assistant Ministers, and Members of arliament from North Eastern Province among other grassroots leaders.
During the meeting, the leaders concluded that what was happening in Somalia was not a religious matter but foreign ideologies being imposed on Somalis which they said should not be brought to Kenya.
Somali crisis
The Vice President underscored the importance of peace and security in national development and called on the youth from the region to engage in constructive engagements through ‘ Kazi Kwa Vijana' initiative and to resist any attempts to involve themselves in the Somali crisis.
Mr. Musyoka who earlier addressed a mammoth crowed at the Garissa Primary School grounds today during a funds drive in aid of Maendeleo ya wanawake projects in the region called on wananchi to uphold peace and security in order to realize faster development.
On the new constitution, the VP assured muslim community that the issue of Khadi's courts would be considered since the matter was not contentious.
The minister for internal security, Prof. George Saitoti and his Defence counterpart Yusuf Haji appealed to local leaders to ensure that area youth are not lured into the raging conflict in neighboring Somalia.
Prof. Saitoti assured that the government will continue to ensure security of its citizens but will not interfere with internal affairs of Somalia.
"We will not interfere with internal affairs of Somali and we will not allow them to interfere with our affairs", he added.
Saitoti lauded the move by leaders in the province to have in place mechanisms to guard against spillage of insecurity from the war torn Somalia.
Yussuf Haji, cautioned the youth against being cheated into joining the conflict in Somalia and assured that Kenya was capable of defending its territorial integrity against any cross border insurgence.
The two said, through the Kazi Kwa Vijana initiative the government will ensure area youth are occupied to avoid idleness that could lead them to being lured into the conflict.
Prof.Saitoti said Kenya will not interfere with Somalia's internal war, but will zealously protect her borders to curtail any spill-over of the problem into Kenya.
Mr. Haji said the government will continue to give Somalia the necessary support.
Source: KBC, July 25, 2009