Address insecurity in North Eastern, Raila tells govt

CORD leader Raila Odinga has called on the government to address cases of insecurity in the North Eastern region.

Speaking when he visited Mandera on Wednesday, Raila said the county should build trust between the State, members of the Somali community and Muslims in the interest of the country.

He also called on the national government to stop governing “through lies, intimidation and misinformation” saying the Jubilee Administration should instead address security in the region.

Raila called for accountability by the National government over reported cases of disappearances and extra judicial killings that are rampant in northern Kenya.

“Instead of pursuing and condemning those who raise alarm, Jubilee must convince the residents that their security is guaranteed and that the disappearances and extrajudicial killings are being addressed,” he said.

“It is true people are disappearing and their bodies are being found in graves later,” he noted.

Raila’s visit to the county came amid reports that mass graves linked to extrajudicial killings by the police had been discovered in the area.

The reports came after the body of a woman was found in a shallow grave at Omary Jillo in Lathi Village, Mandera County.

Investigations however bore no fruits as no extra bodies were found in the area after a two-hour exhumation exercise.

In meetings with local leaders, Raila said northern Kenya has a history of abuses and called on the government to bring the chapter to a close by punishing perpetrators of past and current abuses.

Raila asked the government to explain the reluctance to implement the TJRC report which has specific recommendations for addressing past abuses.

Raila visited the family of Mrs Isnina Mohammed, a widow whose body was found in a grave days after she was reported missing.

A section of Mandera County leaders, led by Senator Billow Kerrow, have apologised for claiming that there were several mass graves in the area.

The apology came hours after Interior Cabinet Secretary Joseph Nkaissery ordered all those who made allegations that there were mass graves in Mandera to retract their statements and apologise by Thursday December 10th or face arrest.

Nkaissery termed the allegations as alarmist, saying they frustrate the war against terror.

Speaking while addressing the media at Harambee House on Wednesday, the CS ordered journalists Yassin Juma and Mohammed Ali, who he blamed for breaking the news, to apologise, further accusing them of lacking patriotism.

He also faulted a section of Mandera leaders led by Billow Kerrow for issuing the alert on the graves that were later proven to be non-existent.

“Nothing was found in the 15 sites that were dug. Excavators were brought in but still found nothing,” noted the CS.

He claimed the alert was a sinister political agenda that was aimed at painting the government negatively.

Nkaissery disclosed that 3000 youths had returned from Somalia after leaving the Al Shabaab militant group and noted that it was wrong to assume any missing persons had been killed by security agents.

The CS revealed that the woman whose body was found in a shallow grave had been an Al Shabaab sympathiser and that she worked as a cook for the militant group.