A day after Mandera Governor Ali Roba complained that the Al-Shabaab threat was growing each day and that over 50 percent of the roads in the county were being controlled by the terror group, the government has insisted that the region had witnessed steady gains through security forces that have been repulsing and deterring threats to lives and properties.
Northern Kenya Regional Commissioner Nick Ndalana admitted that the county, along the Kenya-Somalia border, still experiences daunting scenarios each day due to closeness to the Al-Shabaab corridor but maintained that ‘it was no longer enemy’s stomping ground’.
Governor Roba had accused Mr Ndalana and Mandera County Commissioner Onesmus Kytha of laxity in addressing banditry and other crimes in the county claiming that terrorists were reaching areas that have not been attacked before.
The county boss made the remarks on Friday after residents of Didkuro repulsed an attack by a group on a communication mast on Thursday night.
But Mr Ndalana on Saturday, in a press statement, said Mandera had immensely benefited with government investment on progressive upgrading of security infrastructure, deployment of personnel and improvement of intelligent gathering mechanisms.
Terrorism, the administrator said, was not just a threat to security in Mandera but across the globe and that the threat was evolving with the terror group planting operatives to advance its agenda of attacking, de-stabilizing and disrupting residents’ lives through recruitment and radicalization to violent extremism.
He hit out at Governor Roba for publicly addressing ‘such delicate and complex national security concern’ saying “The Governor knows that our doors remain open for continuous and further consultations on security matters… Given the sensitive and risky nature of our operations, it is regrettable that he chose to address the issue the way he did’.
Mr Ndalana lamented that Governor Roba’s remarks had the potential of heightening tension and possibly putting lives at risk.
He appealed to elected leaders and the public to work with security organs in making Mandera a safe investment destination for local and foreign investors and for locals to continue with their day-to-day activities uninterrupted.
