We should honour our departed heroes

The tragedy that befell our soldiers in Somalia has thrown the country into profound and heartfelt grief. This is indeed a sad moment in the history of our nation.

While we mourn our brave soldiers who have paid the ultimate price for the sake of our peace and safety, we must step up our resolve to ensure terrorism is exterminated in our midst.

Kenya Defence Forces have made our country, Africa and indeed the whole world proud for their incomparable courage, resilience and discipline. They have stood to be counted in these perilous times.

Since KDF entered Somalia, Kenyans have become more secure. Our soldiers have made great sacrifices, risking their lives by going into the territory of a faceless and deadly enemy so that we can be safe.

The pain of those who have lost their fathers, sons and breadwinners has no comparison. Certainly, they are asking lots of questions as we all do. As we search for answers, let’s stand firmly together with these families and do all we can to assuage their deep pain. They should know that we share their pain and immense loss because the departed were the emblem of our sovereignty and symbol of our hope. They are our heroes and we will forever celebrate them.

We wish those injured quick recovery and we promise that the government will walk with them every step of the way as stated by President Uhuru Kenyatta.

As a nation we must pause and reflect on how best we can show gratitude to such unmatched demonstrations of selflessness by our fearless sons. We are hugely indebted to them. One of the best ways we can honour them is for each one of us to play our part in minimising the risk of terror attacks. We can do this by providing critical information to the relevant security agencies.

While it’s the duty of governments to protect their citizens, terrorism has brought a new complex dimension in matters security. The dangerous times we live in call for a heightened level of vigilance by all and sundry.

Unfortunately, some of those fighting for Al-Shabaab’s evil cause are our children who have been radicalised. This places an additional role on the shoulders of the parents. They must be keen enough to discern queer behaviour that could point to radicalisation.

Schools and institutions of learning too need to come up with mechanisms that can detect early enough students who may have fallen into wrong hands. Some of those who have spearheaded attacks within our borders were radicalised in schools and colleges.

From the foregoing it is clear that all of us, from wherever we sit, have a role in denying these enemies of humanity space to operate from. This is not to say the government’s responsibility to keep citizens and soldiers safe is any less onerous. In fact the State has even a more complex challenge dealing with an enemy which is in essence a moving target. The government’s immediate concern regarding the Somalia tragedy is to determine what might have gone wrong. The government will certainly take swift action. This is not the time to give in to despair and give up the fight. If anything, this is when the enemy must feel the impact of our collective anger through decisive action. Fear and hopelessness are the currency in which terrorists trade. They seek to plant seeds of discord among the people and negate all the values that the human race cherishes. To defeat them, we must face them with courage, resolve and unity.

Perhaps what needs to be emphasised in the war on terror is intelligence-gathering. This is an area that security experts have to pay particular attention to. The armies fighting under Amisom need to cooperate more closely not only to gather watertight intelligence but also to devise measures to ensure that quick and appropriate action is taken on the basis of the intel.

As a government we want to assure the families and relatives of the soldiers who lost their lives in defence of their beloved country that their painful and untimely death is not in vain. And while we are grieving that we have lost patriots who served this country with dedication, let us not forget to celebrate their boundless courage.

We salute you our heroes!