Kenya: Kenya will this week start constructing a wall along the border with Somalia as part of efforts to contain terror attacks, Interior Cabinet Secretary Joseph Nkaissery has said.
Mr Nkaissery said they will start in Mandera down to Wajir and erect a wall that will reduce border entries.
“Mandera and Bulahawa are almost merged and you cannot tell which is which. Now we want to put up a wall at border point one and close the border. That will reduce the porous border entries into our country,” he said.
Mandera Senator Billow Kerrow welcomed the move but argued it is not a long-term solution.
“He is admitting there are terrorists operating there and not bandits as he has been claiming. We hope it will help in containing the problem,” said Mr Kerrow.
He said it would be difficult and expensive to construct and man the over 200km long wall.
The senator challenged Nkaissery to come up with long lasting solutions that can help contain continued attacks. Other officials said the Government had transported construction materials to the targeted areas and construction will start anytime.
Al-Shabaab has carried out numerous attacks in the region. Mandera and Bulahawa are about two kilometres apart and officials believe it is the only area that has remained under attack whereas others are relatively calm and secure.
Governor Ali Roba said terror attacks have claimed almost 90 lives in the last seven months. Roba said County Commissioner Alex ole Nkoyo is feeding Nkaissery with wrong information about terror attacks and demanded his sacking.
“Is a county commissioner under whose watch nearly 90 Kenyans have lost their lives extremely competent as claimed by Nkaissery?” asked Mr Roba.
Kerrow wondered why police officers in Mandera covering over 30,000 square kilometres are paid less compared to other regions, which are less than 5,000 square kilometres.
He said insecurity is hampering development in the area and other affected regions and called for seriousness from the national government in tackling it.
