Mandera (Halbeeg News) – The leaders of Mandera and Wajir have accused of Kenya’s Interior Minister of pointing fingers of blame at locals in northeastern Kenya amid al-Shabaab increased its attacks in the region.
While addressing Kenya’s national assembly committee last week, the country’s Interior Minister Kithure Kindiki said locals were cohabiting with the al-Shabaab group to cause mayhem in the region.
Mandera Governor Mohamed Adan Khalif said locals are playing a vital role in combating terror threats.
“Locals of Mandera are dying while protecting non-locals in this region and those saying we are colluding with the al-Shabaab are misinformed. We want those given responsibilities by the President to deliver them instead of making wild allegations from their offices.
His deputy, Ali Maalim, said al-Shabaab activities were affecting everybody in Mandera.
“Al-Shabaab is not only targeting non-local but everyone in Mandera county. We are all at risk and those saying the locals are supporting terrorism are spreading the wrong narrative. We are all affected, and we need to join hands and push them back,” Dr Maalim said.
On his part, Wajir Governor Ahmed Abdullahi said that local youths have volunteered to fight the al-Shabaab just like locals in Somalia are currently doing.
“We have groups in all these peripheries that have volunteered to work with NPRs and these are the groups we are saying ought to have been supported because they go into places the security agencies cannot reach,” the governor said.
He said the leadership of the counties worst affected by terror attacks were interested in a secure region and were investing in security despite the same being a national government function.
“We met here in Wajir of our own volition, we were not asked to meet by CS Interior and our meeting was not funded by anyone else…just to find a solution to this problem,” he said.
He added: “We came together to brainstorm on the best interventions. We met to sensitise our people. We met to structure our demands to the national government, and we also discussed what can be done by ourselves to end this problem.”
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