Senate team raises alarm over border region ‘invasion’

Massive encroachment on Kenyan territory along the Mandera-Somalia border poses serious threats to efforts to tackle Al-Shabaab, a Senate security committee has said.

Some Somalis have occupied no man’s land along the porous border, which is not supposed to be interfered with by either country, according to a report by the team, which is chaired by Garissa Senator Yusuf Haji.

The document calls on the government to conduct a fresh survey to determine the boundary between Kenya and Somalia in a bid to curb the invasion of Kenyan territory.

The committee observed that the runaway insecurity in Mandera County was largely due to the failure by the police to step up security patrols along the 900-kilometre Kenya-Somalia border.

“There are three official entry points: Mandera, Liboi and El wak. They are vast and open, allowing people to enter and leave the country at will,” says the report.

According to the report, there is almost a merger between Bula Hawa (Somalia) and Mandera towns, which are barely two kilometres apart.

This has made it easy for terrorists to cross the border unnoticed and attack Kenyans, before fleeing back to Somalia.

The committee further said overlapping roles, tension and mistrust among various security players in counties and the national government also pose challenges to efforts to fight insecurity.

INTER-CLAN CONFLICTS

According to the Senate team, inter-clan conflicts have fuelled insecurity as fears of being betrayed undermine sharing of information on crime.

The report was compiled after the committee visited Mandera County to investigate the killing of 28 people who had been ordered by Al-Shabaab members to disembark from a bus in November last year.

Thirty-six quarry workers were killed a week later.

More attacks have been reported in the border county and other parts of northern Kenya since the two.

The latest incident was an attack on a residential area, which left 14 people dead and others injured.

The education sector has been hit hard after teachers from outside northern Kenya refused to work in the region.

When contacted, Mr Haji said security agencies should change their tactics to match the sophisticated strategies used by the current crop of criminals.

“Al-Shabaab members, for instance, move around on foot, yet our security personnel prefer vehicles, which are easily visible,” said the senator.

He said the terrorists’ firearms, are superior to the ones used by the security officers.

Mr Haji called for tight border surveillance