LEADER: TNA Somalia Threat Is Empty Rhetoric Speaking at Murang’a on Tuesday, TNA party chairman Johnson Sakaja called on the government to withdraw the KDF from Somalia. He said the government should reconsider its commitments to international cooperation following the UN Security Council decision not to request the ICC to defer the trial of his party leader President Uhuru Kenyatta. The TNA must be careful to avoid kneejerk reactions that could damage Kenya’s national interest. It is absurd for TNA to press for a withdrawal from Somalia. Kenya invaded Somalia unilaterally in October 2011 to weed out al-Shabaab militants responsible for kidnapping tourists in Lamu and other terrorist attacks. Having captured Kismayu and established a buffer zone in Jubaland, Kenya then appealed for international support to meet the costs of Operation Linda Nchi. The African Union then agreed to absorb the KDF into Amisom and the international community agreed to pay the salaries of 4,000 Kenyan soldiers. Who was doing who a favour? Now that Jubaland has to some extent stabilised, Kenya wants Somali refugees in Dadaab to start going home. Will that be possible if the KDF pulls out? Sakaja’s call for a KDF withdrawal is just empty rhetoric. It would hurt Kenya more than the international community.
Posted on: Thu, 21 Nov 2013 07:30:09 +0000
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