Give us more information on deadly camp attack

Kenya Defence forces under Africa Union Mission in Somalia during patrol Afmadow town. November 22, 2015. PHOTO | JEFF ANGOTE | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • The governing Jubilee Coalition is steadfast: KDF must not surrender
  • The time for KDF to return and for a fresh strategy crafted for the military to protect us from the Islamist Al-Shabaab militia from within our borders was yesterday.
  • The opposition Coalition for Reforms and Democracy (Cord) shares my standpoint, but does not articulate a strategy.

The President, as Commander-in-Chief, makes it abundantly clear: The Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) will not withdraw from Somalia. The top brass of the military is equally resolute in its resolve:

KDF will stay put. The governing Jubilee Coalition is steadfast: KDF must not surrender.

My position is different: The time for KDF to return and for a fresh strategy crafted for the military to protect us from the Islamist Al-Shabaab militia from within our borders was yesterday.

The opposition Coalition for Reforms and Democracy (Cord) shares my standpoint, but does not articulate a strategy.

In all media, public opinion is divided for and against the exit of KDF from Somalia. For all these positions, none was being debated as 2015 came to an end and 2016 began.

Ordinary Kenyans, save for military families, were thinking about festivities, school fees and uniforms, books and acquiring the basics of life, not Al-Shabaab.

And then on Friday, January 15, all changed as news broke that Al-Shabaab had attacked the KDF camp at El Adde in Somalia. Then the Islamists reported that they had killed 63 Kenyan

servicemen. They are prone to exaggeration, but that was a high death count. Then it was speculated they had overrun the camp.

The President as C-in-C now also became comforter-in-chief as he confirmed to Kenyans that the enemy had indeed attacked KDF’s El Adde outpost and announced that the government was

standing with the families of the soldiers felled and asked us to do the same. But, he declared, KDF would not be cowed.

POSITIONS HARDENED

The above positions hardened, but all, except obviously the President and the military chiefs, were not reinforcing their standpoints based on information coming from official sources in the war

zone. Indeed, I posted on my Facebook wall on Saturday a demand for information and called government’s silence deafening.

The information was not forthcoming. Over that long weekend, Al-Shabaab broadcast that they had, in fact, killed upwards of 100 KDF personnel and taken several others prisoners of war. Soon

an audio post appeared on Facebook in which two people identified themselves as KDF servicemen in Al-Shabaab captivity.

One said he was a Luhya and gave his age and years of service. The other said he was Kikuyu and gave his years of service. Both appealed to the government, AU and Amisom (African Union

Mission in Somalia) to facilitate their peaceful release. And, they said, their camp was completely overrun by Al-Shabaab in the 5 am raid.

Al-Shabaab’s word was everywhere and it was clearly aimed at demoralising and humiliating KDF and military families and attempting to incite public disfavour for Nairobi’s involvement in Somalia.

But there was no word from the government about what happened that fateful morning, what followed and what was on-going.

It was military families that whispered that KDF had ordered servicemen into battle, but military chiefs could only volunteer that a major search, rescue and recovery operation was under way. The

closest officialdom came to talking casualties was when Interior CS Joseph Nkaissery said Al-Shabaab suffered more casualties than KDF.

RELATIVES IN THE DARK

As the week drew to a close, it emerged that even military wives and their close relatives were still in the dark about the fate of their missing husbands. Al-Shabaab was letting it be known that it had moved its captives to new locations. It was gloating and taunting Kenyans, KDF and the government.

There are many disturbing questions still bouncing off the government’s curtain of silence. Why, for example, did a ragtag rabble confidently march on and overrun an outpost that was supposed to be manned, guarded and peopled by professional soldiers? Can anybody catch such people unawares?

Was there not an iota of intelligence that an attack was in the offing? Is it, in fact, true that the commanders at the base were tipped off that an attack was imminent and that this piece of intelligence may not have been acted on? Is KDF investigating the possibility of negligence or dereliction of duty and the causes?

Are Kenya’s troops sufficiently trained, equipped, supplied and motivated at all times in Somalia and at home? Now, KDF invaded in order to push Al-Shabaab deep into Somalia and degrade their capability, but KDF became part of Amisom which seeks to stabilise the country. What, so far, are Amisom’s achievements?

Last, please good sirs, what happened at El Adde? Give us information to enable us debate exiting or staying the course in Somalia.