Agony of soldiers families’ as they await news on the fate of their loved ones

A photograph of Kenya Defence Forces solder Wesley Sirikwa, whose family said they have been suffering and are traumatised because they have not been receiving enough information from the military about his whereabouts. PHOTO | JARED NYATAYA | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • The family of KDF soldier Wesley Sirikwa had to use its own networks to find information about their missing son.
  • Chesumei MP Elijah Lagat accused the government of “sending young and inexperienced soldiers to Somalia”.
  • Mr Lagat argues that the National Police Service made a similar mistake two years ago when 40 inexperienced officers were killed in the Suguta Valley.

Several families whose relatives were serving with the Kenyan military in Somalia have been asked to travel to Nairobi and help identify the bodies of their loved ones.

Two other families in Nandi County were on Wednesday still anxiously waiting for the government to confirm the names of soldiers killed in the deadly attack on a Kenya Defence Forces camp in El-Adde, Somalia, on January 15, with leaders also urging the military and the government to provide information on the soldiers’ fate.

The two families from Tebeson and Lelmokwo villages in Chesumei Sub-County said they have been suffering and were traumatised since the attack because they were not getting enough information on the whereabouts of their relatives and what had happened to them.

However, representatives of the families have been asked to travel to the Department of Defence headquarters in Nairobi immediately to help in identifying the bodies flown in from Somalia.

On Wednesday, relatives continued to flock the home of David Morogo Songok, who hailed from Tebeson Village, and that of 21-year-old Wesley Sirikwa, of Lelmokwo Village, to commiserate with the soldiers’ families.

Wesley’s father, Mr Samson Sirikwa, said he had to use his own networks to find information about his missing son.

He said Wesley, who left the country on January 2 for Somalia, was among the officers who could not be accounted for after the Al-Shabaab attack.

“We do not know whether our son is alive or dead because our source says that he is yet to be accounted for,” said Mr Sirikwa.

'YOUNG AND INEXPERIENCED'

Chesumei MP Elijah Lagat, who visited the two families on Wednesday, accused the government of “sending young and inexperienced soldiers to Somalia”, arguing that a similar mistake was made by the National Police Service two years ago “when young, inexperienced officers were sent to Suguta Valley, where over 40 officers were killed.”

But he supported the Kenyan military's mission in Somalia “on condition that they send more experienced soldiers”.

Earlier, Uasin Gishu Deputy Governor Daniel Chemno urged the government to ensure that families of KDF soldiers deployed in the war-torn Somalia get information about the whereabouts of their loved ones.

“The government should do more to help reduce growing anxiety and trauma among families who had their loved ones in Somalia during the attack,” said Mr Chemno.

(READ: Anxious families appeal to military for information on their kin)