Honour Northern Kenya heroes, urges Garissa Governor Nathif Jama

Garissa Governor Nathif Jama.

Garissa Governor Nathif Jama has urged historians in the country to do more research and give due recognition to heroes and heroines from the Northern region.

He said their selfless struggle for the country's independence cannot be ignored.

Speaking at the Garissa Primary School playground during the celebration of Mashujaa Day, the governor said while the history of the country as currently written only recognises heroes and heroines involved in the struggle for self-rule, champions from other regions are never mentioned in history books.

"What has being given a lot of reference in most history books in the country regarding the people of the Northern region is an isolated secession movement driven by few people from Somalia," he said.

First detainees

He added: "The first people to be detained by the colonial administration were seven men from Garissa in 1948-59. These men, who were never mentioned by historians, were jailed together with the famous Kapenguria Six."

He named the six men from Garissa County who were detained but were never recognised as heroes as Maalim Mahat Bashir, Mohamed Hassan Ibrahim, Aden Ahmed Ibrahim, Barre Hassan Yarrow, Salat Hadhe Roble and Somane Magan Noor.

Governor Jama said his government will embark on research to properly document the trials and tribulations of heroes and heroines from his county who gallantly struggled for the freedom of the country.

Jama urged the people of Garissa, mainly the youth, to borrow a leaf from the legacy left behind by both the recognised and unrecognised heroes and heroines and to dedicate their civic service for the betterment of their county and country.

"I want to advise the youth to avoid idling and engaging in partisan politics that is divisive and could bring about hate and chaos," he said.

He said his administration had undertaken several development projects that had improved the lives of residents in the county.

He said currently, there were 160 development projects under-way in all the seven sub-counties.

The governor also urged the Director of Immigration to reopen the Garissa passport office which was closed last month, noting that there was no evidence showing the issuance of the travel documents from the branch was a security threat.