Security agencies in Garissa County have opted to enlist the help of village elders to tackle the threat of the Al Shabaab militant group and their affiliates in the country.
Elders in Bura East Sub County pledged to cooperate fully with the authorities to flush out the offshoots and bring to book those found colluding with the terrorist organization to frustrate and disrupt development projects in the area.
There has been suspicion that some members of the community know who the terrorists are but were worried that they may be attacked when they share the information with police.
Speaking after a special meeting with security officials, a section of political leaders, chiefs and the elders, Garissa County Commissioner Boaz Cherutich said that the citizens had promised to work closely with the government by sharing information on suspected Al Shabaab terrorists.
“We want to root out the terrorists who have tried to destabilize peace in this area and so these elders have agreed to work with us by creating awareness of peace in the villages,” Cherutich said.
“We are warning that the government will take stern action against any culprit who will be arrested in the security operations,” he added.
Garissa Deputy Governor Abdi Dagane said that the recent terrorist attacks had created fear among the residents and that there was a need for concerted efforts in dealing with the insurgents.
“Some schools and hospitals have been closed and sometimes people cannot use the roads because of fear which is making their lives difficult but today we have agreed in one accord to complement the efforts of the security apparatus and work together,” Dagane said.
Fafi MP Salah Yakub on his part proposed to have a team of selected elders who will lead negotiations to have the Al Shabaab suspects leave the place.
“People know where they stay, where the camps are and so we want them to leave our area immediately or we, the people of this area, will deal with them,” Yakub said.
“We will not allow them to interfere with development projects of this constituency,” he added.
This comes at a time when the US embassy in Kenya has issued an alert of a possible terror attack in the country.
By Erick Kyalo
