by STEPHEN ASTARIKO
Tuesday July 11, 2023
Abdirahman Khalif an elder from Garissa speaking to the press at a Garissa hotel on Monday. Image: STEPHEN ASTARIKO
Peace committee members and elders from Garissa on Monday warned politicians from the federal state of Somalia and Juba land to desist from holding meetings and campaigning in hotels in Kenya.
They raised concern over the series of meetings that are being held by politicians from different factions describing them as a threat to local security.
Garissa plays a central role in the politics of the larger Ogaden community, a reason politicians from the federal government of Somalia and Juba land state of Somalia always trickle there and Nairobi to hold meetings with their clansmen.
But according to the elders, the worrying trend is likely to cause clan animosity between warring factions with the spill over likely to be experienced on Kenyan soil.
Speaking to the press at a Garissa hotel on Monday, the elders led by Garissa county peace chairman Osman Ibrahim Abdi said while they acknowledge that they share a lot in common with their brothers, they would not wish to be drawn into their internal affairs.
He said the politicians should stick in their countries and regions and carry out their campaigns there, adding that that is where they are seeking to be elected.
“Our message is very clear, anyone who is seeking any seat be it in Somalia, Ethiopia or Juba land to go and campaign there. We don’t want to see them bringing animosity between our communities and raising unnecessary tension with their meetings that they keep holding in those big hotels. That we will not allow,” he said.
He added, “Yes it is an open secret that we share a lot in common including the borders, we profess the same religion, we also take our animals there during drought season, however what we are against is being drawn into their internal issues when in the real sense we are Kenyans and have our own,” he said.
Abdirahman Khalif, an elder, wondered why the politicians were holding meetings in hotels within Garissa saying he read a sinister motive in the whole thing.
Khalif questioned why the security apparatus were allowing the meetings to go on despite residents expressing their disapproval of the meetings.
“My question is, why has the security apparatus in the county and country not stopped these people from holding meetings which have been going on for the last six months. My biggest worry is that opposing sides might decide to square their differences on Kenyan soil and we definitely don’t want to get there,” he said.
He called on both county and subcounty security teams to closely monitor the movements and actions of the politicians while in the country.
The elder said as locals, they have their share of problems that they want the government tackle among them the insecurity challenge posed by the al Shabaab militants, and would not wish to be dragged into matters that are not of concern to them.
Their remarks come barely two weeks after police in Garissa town stopped a meeting that was convened by Abdi Ali Rage, a former senior advisor for ex-Somali President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmojo who wants to unseat Ahmed Mohamed Islam also known as Ahmed Madobe in the upcoming elections.
Everything had been set, chairs arranged with elders taking their seats waiting to be addressed by Rage only for the police to come and order everyone to leave the premises.
Juba land is an autonomous region in southern Somalia, Its eastern border lies 40–60 km east of the Jubba River and stretches from Gedo to the Indian Ocean, while its western side flanks the North Eastern region of Kenya.