Peace in Somalia can only be realised by Somalis – Kalonzo

Wiper Democratic Movement Leader Kalonzo Musyoka has said that peace in Somalia can only be realised by the Somalis themselves and not by use of military force.

In a statement sent to newsrooms on Sunday morning, Kalonzo said time has come for the nations who contribute to the formation of AMISOM to rethink their stay in Somalia, adding that the two attacks on military camps in Somalia point to a lack of proper intelligence.

The Wiper leader said the AMISOM mission is severely underfunded by the donors leading to poor intelligence gathering and preparedness of protective rebuttal in case of an ambush as witnessed in the two attacks.

He noted that donors have complained of corruption in the mission, which has been disputed by the concerned authorities and accused the government of keeping the public in the dark whenever attacks occur.

This comes just one day after CORD leader Raila Odinga claimed that tens of Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) officers were killed during the Al Shabaab attack on the Kenyan base in the southern town of Kulbiyow, Somalia near the Kenyan border.

The attack that took place on Friday is said to have occurred at dawn and led to the death of nine KDF soldiers.

Speaking to Citizen Digital on phone, Col. Njuguna, said the KDF soldiers were quick to act and swiftly repulsed the Al Shabaab militants.

“At about 5:00 am, the enemy (Al Shabaab) attacked the KDF camp but our troops were on high alert and repulsed them. The Al Shabaab had a bad day today,” said Col. Njuguna.

The KDF spokesman says the Al Shabaab fighters were spreading propaganda and distorting information on the attack.

“They were not able to get into the camp and we are still in control of our base.”

The militants had claimed that they had overrun the Kenyan camp killing dozens of soldiers who are in the neighbouring East African country on a mission to help fight the Al Qaeda-linked militants.