Nigeria's President Buhari to join Uhuru in requiem service for KDF soldiers in Eldoret

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari will join President Uhuru Kenyatta in Eldoret Wednesday to attend a requiem service in honour of Kenyan soldiers killed at El-Adde in Somalia.

The inter-denominational prayers will be held at Moi Barracks, just outside Eldoret, where most of the soldiers from the 9th Kenya Rifles Battalion who perished in the Al-Shabaab attack on January 15 were based.

President Kenyatta lands at the Eldoret International Airport at 12.30pm and will receive President Buhari an hour later, after which they will fly to Moi Barracks, about 40km away.

The Nigerian leader, a former military chief, is on a two-day State visit with unconfirmed reports that Ethiopian and Somali leaders Haile Mariam Desalegne and Hassan Sheikh Mohammud, respectively, will also attend.

BEEHIVE OF ACTIVITY

Preparations were Wednesday in top gear in Eldoret, with large numbers of military vehicles driving around town.

The soldiers were part of the African Union Mission in Somalia (Amisom) team deployed to the war-ravaged country. Defence spokesman Bogita Ongeri confirmed prayers will be held for the victims and their families.

“Different churches have been invited for the prayers at the Moi Barracks,” he told Nation.

Uasin Gishu County church ministers yesterday said they organised the prayers in solidarity with the troops.

“The attack constitutes the worst such act in our history as a nation. This is an assurance that the blood of our fallen heroes was not shed in vain,” said the clergy in a statement.

The chairman of the Uasin Gishu County Gospel Ministers, Bishop Wilson Kurui, called on the government and people of Somalia to use the opportunity to build a peaceful and prosperous country.

The gloomy weather in Eldoret reflected the mood of affected families, some of whom are yet to hear from or of their loved ones.

The families have been invited for Wednesday's prayers.

In Maralal town, Samburu County, hopes by Mr Isaak Osman Mohammed’s family that their son could still be alive have been fading by the day.

“We are having sleepless nights. We don’t know where he is and if he is alive. His brothers and sisters are here. His wife and children live in Gilgil,” said his distraught mother, Mrs Hadija Bulle.

Mr Mohammed Noor Osman, 37, who has served in the army for 12 years, has not been answering calls since the attack on Friday, January 15.

This worries the family a lot because it is not his nature. He often called home to talk to his family.

“We last talked on Thursday, January 14, 2016. He called using his usual mobile phone and told me he was fine and there was no problem,” said his father.

“I have been trying to call him since January 15 after the media reported the attack.”

He said his son, the first of his 11 children, was among the soldiers who took over Kismayu from Al-Shabaab.

It was his second time in Somalia.

The missing soldier’s mother said the family has been searching for him among the bodies brought from Somalia.

“The government says he might be among the soldiers who fled during the attack and got lost,” said Ms Bulle.

But amid all this gloom and doom, his father has not lost faith in KDF’s mission in Somalia.

“The KDF should continue fighting Al-Shabaab until they win the war. There is no need to retreat. They will not defeat us,” he said.