Northern Kenya's plee to be given a slice of the cake

Are Mandera, Turkana, Isiolo and Garissa counties still in Kenya? If yes, what has the Jubilee government done to ensure that the marginalized communities feel appreciated? I think it has done trivial to ensure that our brethrens are living better lives and secure.

Before 2013 elections, presidential aspirants thronged the counties frequently and promised them” heaven and earth” in an attempt to woo votes. Since then, the areas have been neglected and rarely do they visit the counties again. The communities here feel secluded and as though if they are not in their own country, but another Kenya.  

The plausible reason has been that they Kenyan only after reaching Nairobi. Northern Kenya has been a war tone zone facing challenges ranging from cattle rustling to horrendous al-shabaab attacks.

It is the only place where pastoralists carry unlicensed guns freely; boys at age of 10 are ‘sharp shooters’.  From Baragoi massacre of 2012 to recent al-shabaab attack in  a residential area in Mandera town, explicit insecurity has been an issue in the region. Infrastructure in these areas are in a dilapidated state.  All weather roads are scanty and innumerable places are inaccessible.

Cattle rustling has been the order of the day here especially in Turkana and Pokot. Residents have got used to waking up to dawns of horror due to unrelenting cattle banditry which have left some pastoralists dead. The horrible memories of Garissa university college attack are still candid in the minds of Kenyans where 148 people were slain by al-shabaab in cold blood compelling the entire nation to grief.

These unremitting heinous attacks show that the security agencies in these areas are not performing to their expectation. It’s piteous that the residential areas in Mandera town were next to a KDF camp albeit they never acted swiftly to confront the attackers. Interior cabinet secretary Nkaissery claimed that security agents had no information pertaining to the attack meaning that the NSIS has not been cautiously tracking security information. Consequently, failure of the police to flash to the scene and engage the attackers in a shootout are palpable; they were not on patrol.

Security at the porous and vast Kenyan border should be beefed up to ensure that the attackers don’t sneak into Kenya to commit atrocities. Again, roads should be revamped to ensure easy patrols in the areas. The county in conjunction with national government should maneuver ways to engage the warring communities in peaceful meetings and enlighten them to curb cattle rustling.

Security personnel deployed to such areas should be competent and highly trained to extirpate the strings of attacks. The officers are mandated to keep vigil to ensure that such attacks which are propagated by darkness are scattered. Am convinced that such endeavors won’t be in vain and will  play a vital role in ensuring security for the marginalized communities.