Kenya Defence Forces: Kenya is fighting the al Shaabab militias in Somalia in an operation dubbed 'Linda Nchi' (pic courtesy of nairobichronicle.wordpress.com)
Reacting to Star columnist Wambugu Ngunjiri ‘s comment on social media that the Kenya government needs to speak in one voice as far as the Al Shabaab war is concerned, a man referring to himself as Captain Collins Wanderi says that what is happening is part of war propaganda.
I beg to differ.
Looking at the statement by the government spokesman Dr. Alfred Mutua in the Star’s main story today, I doubt whether there is a propaganda strategy by the war to try and disorient the Somali militias. I differ with Captain Wanderi because Dr. Mutua says that “Kenya does not negotiate with outlawed groups” yet the same government has just announced that it is commencing talks with the Mombasa Republican Council, an outlawed groups that is active in Mombasa and its environs.
There is a big disconnect between what different arms of the government are saying and I don’t think this is a war strategy at all. Even if I was born a fool, I know when there is a plan and when there is no plan at all.
Assistant minister for Foreign Affairs Richard Onyonka said that the “government was ready to negotiate with al Shaabab if it renounces violence.” At the same time, military spokesman Major Emmanuel Chirchir was giving brief about the resistance that the Kenya Defence Forces had encountered in their fight against the al Shaabab.
Is there any connection between what these gentlemen are saying? Unfortunately there is none and no one should therefore claim there is a strategy in all this confused talk from government. This is not reassuring at all to the general public that is looking up to the government to show confidence and seem like to know what it is doing in Somalia.
One worrying thing that has come out from the statement made by Onyonka is that the government has deliberately allowed al Shaabab operatives to live in Kenya because “it was a deliberate government decision to allow them to stay here because we were engaged with them.” Is this really true? So the government has been having talks with people that it knows are planning to harm Kenyans?
Now that we have had attacks from these groups, has the government arrested some of these people that it has been talking to with the hope of making them see reason and abandon their unworthy cause against innocent Kenyans? These are questions that the government needs to answer immediately in order to absolve itself from blame for the suffering that Kenyans have so far gone through.
(Left) General Julius Karangi, Kenya's Chief of Defence Forces and President Mwai Kibaki, Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces: The two men at the centre of the al Shaabab war.
If the government knows the al Shaabab sympathizers live and where they own property in the country, what has it done to see to it that the proceeds from these supposedly illegally acquired properties are not used to harm Kenyans? Is this really responsible talk from a government in the 21st century that purports to care for the interests of its people.
Why do we have to spend so much to go into war, a venture that is not even known when it will come to an end, when our enemies are right within our borders, and are known by minister Onyonka and others in government? This gives credence to the statement by assistant minister for Internal Security Orwa Ojode that the al Shaabab menace is like a snake with the head in Kenya and the tail in Somalia. Why run for the tail in Somalia when a blow to the head in Kenya would be the most fatal?
I am no expert in war and strategy but I know when I am being lied to and when the government that is supposed to protect me has failed in its responsibility. The government needs to come clear on some of these issues that have so far been raised by the citizenry of this country, with regard to the war in Somalia.
As things stand now, statements by government operatives regarding the war are raising more answers than questions!
I supported the government when it first announced that it was going to Somalia but now I am beginning to think twice. You may call me unpatriotic, but I am a reluctant participant in this war. Unless the government gives me satisfying answers to some of these questions that I have doubt about, I am not willing to support this war.
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