Raila wrong on President Kenyatta’s role in military matters – State House

State House has strongly defended President Uhuru Kenyatta’s move to order the withdrawal of Kenya Defence Forces soldiers from South Sudan.

In a hard-hitting statement to Newsrooms Monday, State House spokesperson Manoah Esipisu took a swipe at CORD leader Raila Odinga over his criticism of President Kenyatta’s action against South Sudan saying as Commander-In-Chief the Head of State was within his rights to recall KDF soldiers from the conflict-riddled country.

“The decision by His Excellency President Uhuru Kenyatta to recall the Kenya Defence Forces personnel serving in South Sudan was undertaken constitutionally; including obtaining authorization by the National Security Council acting in accordance with its mandate under Article 240 of the Constitution,” stated Esipisu.

“Needless to say, Raila Odinga is not a member of the NSC and therefore his statement is out of ignorance.”

Esipisu’s statement was in response to an earlier statement by Raila to media houses, terming Uhuru’s action as dictatorial and unconstitutional.

“Dictatorship usually begins with a country’s leadership ignoring or deliberately misinterpreting the constitution for ego missions. That is the path the president and his deputy are trying to put the country on with the outdated view of what the president can do with defence forces.”

“The president does not have an exclusive mandate in matters military. It is Parliament and not the president that has overall authority over the military,” he said.

Citing Section 238 (2) and Article 132 (e) of the Constitution, Raila said that national security is subject to the authority of the Constitution and Parliament, adding that the president can only declare war with the approval of Parliament.

“Section 240 of the Constitution creates the National Security Council which, but only with the approval of Parliament, has the sole mandate to deploy national forces outside Kenya for regional or international peace support operations; or other support operations; and approve the deployment of foreign forces in Kenya,” the statement read further.

Manoah however rubbished Raila’s remarks saying Raila’s opposition to the withdrawal of Kenyan troops from South Sudan was aimed at gaining political mileage.

“The mandate of UNMIS ended on July 11, 2011 with the independence of the Republic of South Sudan on July 9, 2011, with all the UNMIS personnel (including Kenyan officers) transferred to UNMISS,” read the statement.

“The Kenyan soldiers continued to serve in UNMISS as part of a continuing obligation emanating from the 2005 deployment.”

Esipisu further claimed that the move by Raila to only see the withdrawal of the troops as a loss of allowances and stipends is tantamount to trivialising the matter.

“Our soldiers do not put their lives on the line because of allowances and stipends. They are in peacekeeping for the peace and security of Kenya, the region and the world.

“Similarly, Kenya’s military comprises committed professionals and noble officers who never idle in barracks. They have invested their time and careers to develop a respectable capacity to perform their duties.”

He said that UN’s decision to sack Lieutenant-General Johnson Mogoa Ondieki over the attack on civilians in Juba is an attempt to put in question the professional conduct of Kenya’s military.

“It casts unwarranted aspersions on our gallant military, which is unacceptable to the Commander-in-Chief, his Service Commanders, his officers and the people of Kenya.

“Our Defence Forces are a disciplined constitutional entity whose mandate, operations and deployment are lawfully under their Commander-in-Chief, the National Security Council and Parliament.”

The debate on the president’s actions have sparked mixed reactions from both sides of the divide, with opposition leader Raila Odinga leading a CORD revolt on the matter.

Already, 200 KDF soldiers, of the 1,000 who were deployed in South Sudan have returned to the country as the government makes good its threat to withdraw forces from the war-torn country.