The Star
03/31/2013
Coast
PC Samuel Kilele has linked the outlawed Mombasa Republican Council and
the Al Sabaab militia saying they are working in cahoots at in the
region.
Yesterday, Kilele issued a seven-day ultimatum to the two groups and
any other criminal gang in the region to surrender of face the full
force of the law.
“After that the consequences will be drastic. The national government
has a cardinal role to protect property and lives,” he said in his
office yesterday in a press conference.
“If they don’t surrender, then we will go to the forests and the
caves to flush them out. We know where they are and we know what they
are planning,” said Kilele.
This comes as Kenya awaits the Supreme Court decision on a petition
filed by Cord against President-elect Uhuru’s win in the concluded
general elections today.
The PC said 26 police officers have been killed between September 10
last year and March 28 this year, with the most recent incident
occurring in Malindi on Thursday where two police officers and six
attackers were killed when a group of suspected MRC adherents attempted
to raid a police station.
“That is bad enough. We have to put a stop to this,” he warned. He
however declined to state the number of government firearms that have
been stolen by the militants in different raids.
Kilele said some of the attackers have had military training and did
not rule out the possibility of the youths who went to neighbouring
Somalia for military training being behind the incidents.
“To me there is a possibility that the al Shabaab and the MRC are
sympathisers to each other because they are all bent on causing
disturbance in this region. That is how I look at it,” he said.
He defended the police against accusations of being lax saying they
always strive to get on top of situations. He denied that they use
outdated or faulty weapons.
He however acknowledged that the government is facing enormous
challenges in fighting the militants. He said most of them are elusive.
The government sent a security team to Mwaluphamba forest in Kwale
where intelligence indicated that there were some 600 youths undergoing
illegal military training. “But we did not find anyone there. These are
the challenges we face,” Kilele said.