Deploy KDF to Mandera, Uhuru Kenyatta urged

Mandera MPs want President Uhuru Kenyatta to deploy the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) to the county to take charge of security in the wake of attacks on Governor Ali Roba.

The MPs, led by Senator Billow Kerrow, accused the government of inaction and abdicating its responsibility to secure Kenya’s border with Somalia to Ethiopian forces.

“We want KDF to be deployed on the border between Kenya and Somalia just like Lamu and Kismayu. We feel the government is treating Mandera as if it is not part of Kenya,” Mr Kerrow said in a Press briefing at Parliament buildings in Nairobi.

The seven lawmakers warned that the situation was deteriorating and asked Mr Kenyatta to intervene and order the deployment of KDF to man the border.

Al-Shabaab militants killed one man and wounded three others, two days after killing four people when they attacked Mr Roba’s convoy last Friday.

READ: Gunmen kill four more in Mandera night attack

The leaders criticised Chief of Kenya Defence Forces Julius Karangi and accused him of failing to protect Kenyans from external aggression.

“How do you renew a contract for someone who has failed? General Karangi has failed to secure Mandera border. People are dying everyday yet you (President) want to renew his contract,” said Mr Kerrow.

Mandera has long been targeted by Al-Shabaab, which has said it wants to punish Kenya for sending troops into Somalia where they are fighting alongside African Union peacekeepers.

Late last year, the militants killed more than 60 people in two attacks, one on quarry workers and another on a passenger bus, in the same region.