Haji opposes withdrawal from Somalia

Monday May 19, 2014

Garissa Senator Mohamed Yusuf Haji. He has said it would be suicidal for the Kenya Defence Forces to come out of Somalia without proper security structures in place. PHOTO/FILE

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Garissa Senator Mohamed Yusuf Haji has said it would be suicidal for the Kenya Defence Forces to come out of Somalia without proper security structures in place.

Mr Haji, speaking in Mombasa over the weekend, warned that it would be catastrophic to withdraw KDF whose presence in the neighbouring country was bearing fruit.

“I am told Mogadishu is booming with development and this tells you why we should continue having African peacemakers until the country can stand on its own,” he said.

The Senator said it would an act of cowardice for KDF to be pulled out of Somalia because of the ongoing terror attacks in the country.

OPEN GATES FOR RAIDS

“Succumbing to Al-Shabaab’s tactics of blackmail will be counterproductive as it will open the gates for future raids such as the one witnessed in Lamu County where a tourist was kidnapped from a hotel.”

As Senate Security committee chairman, Mr Haji said he believed the empowering of county commissioners would boost efforts to fight terrorism, radicalism and crime.

He appealed to the politicians to support the commissioners within their jurisdiction saying there was no conflict of interests between the governors and the officials.

“These are two distinct entities serving the public and if there is conflict between them then there is the arbitrator who can rectify that,” he said adding that sanity would prevail in the counties if everybody plays their roles.

BOUNDARY CONFLICT

Answering questions from the media, Mr Haji said he would be visiting Wajir and Mandera counties ‘soon’ to resolve the boundary conflict.

“Starting next week I will be travelling to different parts of the country to assessing boundary conflicts between different counties such as the Siaya and Kericho, Wajir and Garissa and Isiolo in order to find a lasting solution,” he added.

The senator expressed disappointment when he recently visited two constituencies of Fafi and Ijara they did not find the county commissioners or government officers at their working stations.

“On Wednesday, I paid a surprise visit to these areas and I was shocked to find no government officers at the working station although the public had stayed for three days without water,” he said adding that with more powers to the commissioners things would change because they would be accountable to the national government.

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