KDF marks first anniversary since going into Somalia

By WAINAINA NDUNG’U

Kenya’s military put its best foot forward as it marked the first anniversary since the start of its first direct military incursion outside the country.

The Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) also unveiled an annual commemoration day to be cerebrated on October 14, marking the first day of its anti-Al Shabaab incursion into Somalia.

Chief of Defence Forces Julius Karangi said an annual commemoration day was a tradition for best armies worldwide to celebrate the selfless efforts of their soldiers.

According to General Karangi, KDF chose October 14 because it marked Kenya’s military first direct deployment outside the country. He said President Kibaki had approved the new date on June 6 and it will now be on the calendar of the defence forces, serving also as an open day when immediate families and guests are invited to interact with soldiers.

Karangi spoke at the Kenya Army’s 10 Engineers Battalion in Nanyuki in a colourful ceremony.

In a speech read on his behalf by Defence minister Yusuf Haji, President Kibaki pledged to retain the KDF force in Somalia until the country stabilised, but with the approval of Parliament.

President’s pledge

“We are aware that Al Shabaab may have just hibernated into new tactics after being vanquished by the KDF but the group still poses a threat to the territorial integrity of Somalia and Kenya,” said the President.

He urged the international community to help Somalia’s army to improve its capacity as well as Somalia to stand on its own through providing assistance for rebuilding the nation and for re-integration of surrendering Al Shabaab fighters.

Haji assured families of soldiers killed or wounded in the operation that the Government would not forget them.

Karangi said the army was authoring a posterity book on Operation Linda Nchi for distribution to Kenyan schools and internationally.

Karangi also revealed that KDF’s incursion into Somalia at the onset of the rains last year was a strategic tactic. The timing, he said, enabled the capture of huge territories in a very short span of time.

Brigadier GRA Owino, commander of the Engineers Brigade, said with the Somalia incursion, KDF had emerged as a “very calculating force with more brain than brawn” while Army Commander Joseph Kasaon said the operation had proven that KDF was “a formidable force”.

Lieutenant Col Jeff Nyaga, Head of the Central Sector battle group, recalled the highs and the lows of his command of the battle group, recalling the loss of soldiers after a combat helicopter full of ammunition, fuel and rockets crashed a few minutes after it had fuelled and re-armed on  October 16, 2011.

Anne Kithinji, the wife of a soldier in the Northern Sector, spoke of the fears and concerns of families of the soldiers fighting the war. She called for increased support and counselling, saying even their children were worried their fathers or mothers could die on the battlefront.

At the Kenya Air Force Laikipia garrison, there was a parallel commemoration with the unveiling of a memorial presided over by Defence Assistant Minister David Musila.