Category Archives: Somalia

Uganda: new terror threat by Al-Shabaab terorists against nation during Ramadhan

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Reports Leo Odera Omolo

UGANDAN security is on full alert ahead of Idd festivities, which mark the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadhan slated for tomorrow,the government owned NEWVISION reported this morning

Al-Shabaab on Tuesday demanded that Uganda withdraws her peacekeeping troops from the war-torn Somalia, or face more attacks.

Accordingly, security has been stepped up to counter the threats, said Police spokeperson Judith Nabakooba.

“We call upon the public to be vigilant, especially during this period of Idd,” she said yesterday.

The latest threat was issued by the Islamists’ radical leader Sheikh Fuad Mohamed Khalaf ‘Shangole at a mosque in Mogadishu.

Defence spokesperson Felix Kulayigye yesterday said violence will not work.

The Somali-based Islamic militants claimed responsibility for the twin bombings, which killed 79 people in Kampala on July 11.

“I advise them to try something else but not threats of violence because it will not work. It will not make us change our stand,” Kulayigye said.

The Ugandan troops are serving under the African Union force called AMISOM. “Our troops will not leave Somalia as long as the African Union wants them there,” he said. “The people of Somalia want peace and that is what took us there.”

He added: “We are not in Somalia for adventure; it is by conviction to ensure the return of peace for our brothers.
“We have been defending Uganda since February 6, 1981 and we have never backslid on that. Ugandans should remain vigilant and let us know of suspicious people.”

The militants on Tuesday accused President Yoweri Museveni of becoming an obstacle to stability in the war-torn Somalia and warned him not to send more troops to Somalia.

Ugandan and Burundian peacekeepers are assisting the Somali Transitional Federal Government. Uganda recently sent 750 troops of the 10,000 more soldiers it pledged during the recent AU summit in Kampala.

AU officials said last week AMISOM’s troop level had recently risen to 7,200. The force is seeking a more robust mandate that would allow it to hunt down insurgents.

Uganda’s fight against al-Shabaab has received a boost from several countries since the July 11 attack. The US, Britain, Kenya, among others, rushed investigators to work with the Kampala team, leading to the arrest of over 50 arrests.

In fresh investigations, two more Kenyans were early this week arrested in connection with the blasts. Habib Sulaiman Njoroge was arrested at the Kenya-Uganda border post of Malaba while trying to sneak into Uganda. Also arrested is journalist Habib Suleiman working for an FM station in Mombasa.

A total of 34 suspects have been charged with terrorism, murder and attempted murder. Among them are Ugandans, Kenyans, Somalis and one Pakistani.

Ends

Somalia: 32 people, including six MPs Killed in Hotel

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From: Yona Maro

Sheik Ali Mohamud
Rage, a spokesman for the al–Shabab militia,Tuesday, Aug. 24, 2010, in
Mogadishu, Somalia who said that members of the group’s ‘specialforces’
had carried out the attack against those ‘aiding the infidels.’ Scores
of people were killed during the attack

Somali
Minister of Information Abdurahman Omar Osman speaks on his mobile phone
in front of the Muna Hotel following an armed attack in Mogadishu
August24, 2010

A
Somali policeman is brought to Medina hospital on the back of a truck in
Mogadishu, Somalia, after being injured during fighting between
Government Forcesand Islamists Insurgents in Mogadishu, Somalia

Somali
Deputy Prime Minister Abdirahman Ibbi speaks to the media following the
armed attack on the Muna Hotel in Mogadishu

Somali government
forces walk outside the Muna Hotel in Mogadishu

People gather
around Muna Hotel, the site of an armed attack in Mogadishu

A nurse treats a
wounded civilian at the Medina hospital, Mogadishu, Somalia

Somalia, an Insult to African Stability

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By Douglas O. Majwala.

East African Economy flops to doldrums and heading to recession if meltdown in Somalia is not subdued. Disorder in the horn of Africa should swiftly-jointly be pursued with long lasting objectivity. Forging an economic block is never a cure for underdevelopment if security is not prioritized. Sooner or later the world will be paralyzed by the tough painful u-turn decision by the shippers and land- locked to divert to Southern Africa for safer anchoring and it will be to the detriment of EAC. The jealous anti-EAC’s economic growth elements may capitalize in the insecurity to reach decisions whose eventuality will be to overthrow EAC progress. Keen serious leadership is needed to zero- in the situation with strong socio-economic and political will. The renaissance of EAC should not be mistaken for attainment of individual political excellence whilst the status-quo of the citizenry suffers the most.

A joint military reconnaissance along with heavy-duty diplomatic surveillance must be deployed to denounce longstanding global insurgency. Apathy about Somalia ambiguity was first given room by the late ex president Gen. Siad Barre who declared in an OAU meeting when he chaired the body that Somalia will never go off-course [astray] because it is a unique symbol of oneness that has ever existed in the globe and went as far as highlighting religion, culture, language and tribe to be standard for all Somalis in one Somalia including the Diaspora, he did not know it was a serious oversight for him as today what used to be known as Somalia is almost not there including himself [buried in a foreign land].

Strong agendas that need be addressed to rescue Somalia from wiping out of world geo-political atlas are: Appraise the country profile by doing the following: writing an interim constitution, forming national military and security forces which are heavily armed, preaching the positive side [not tit for tat] of religion that emphasizes love for one another as a priority pillar for seeing God, establishing comprehensive judiciary system, arraigning all perpetrators to International Court of Criminology ICC and after proven guilty be given amnesty instead of jail terms “a Mandela’s peace and reconciliation initiative cured all scars of Apartheid”.

Others are; transforming all ethnic parties into legally registered political parties, aligning all war lords to form a government of national unity, assisting the government to beef up marine security and declare Somali waters a buffer zone controlled by international community, re-vitalize government coffers by drawing an economic marshal plan, disarmament, revive a fully fledged diplomatic links including economic diplomacy [naturally Somalis are the Indians of Africa as they are talented in commerce] to make Somalia not look segregated from rest of the world.

It is childish philosophy to leave Somalis alone solve Somali predicament; it will result in regional holocaust beyond control, hence international community, bordering countries and individual country support should top the priority list for finding a panacea to Somali unrest. In this, I agree that many clicks may not spoil the browse.

Douglas O. Majwala [majwalaoriko@yahoo.co.uk]
Rorya-Tanzania.

Uganda: Al-Shabaab Somali terrorist trains more in Uganda as suspect bombers confesses

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Writes Leo Odera Omolo In Kisumu City

FOUR key suspects who confessed to involvement in the bomb blasts were paraded before journalists yesterday.

TOP LEFT TO RIGHT: Idris Nsubuga, Mohamood Mugisha, Haruna Hassan Luyima and Issa Ahmed Luyima

Two of them, Edris Nsubuga and Haruna Hassan Luyima, cried over the pain their actions caused. Issa Luyima and Haruna Hassan Luyima are brothers, while Nsubuga is their friend. The fourth suspect was identified as Mohamood Mugisha.

“I am very sorry for the loss of life. I was hesitant to pick on Ugandans. My target was the Americans, who I think are responsible for the suffering in the world. I am very sorry to the people, who knew me,” Issa Luyima, described as the mastermind of the blasts, said without emotion.

“I am a peace-loving person but that is the nature of war. It has got many dimensions,” he asserted.

Nsubuga’s eyes welled with tears and his voice cracked as he spoke.
“I was used. Issa was so calculative in using me. To you all, I am a monster but I had emotional problems and this is what they capitalised on,” he said.

Handcuffed and dressed in jeans, T-shirts and jackets, the healthy-looking men aged between 24-33 years, narrated their role in the attacks, which killed 79 people, the Police said.

Ironically, Nsubuga’s auntie Margaret Nabankema, was also killed in the attack in Kyaddondo Rugby Club grounds in Lugogo, Kampala as revelers watched the World Cup final.

Haruna, who sobbed before the news conference began, and Mohamood Mugisha, said they were sorry for not reporting the crime.

They said they were not paid any money, except a reward in heaven.
The suspects were produced by the Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence boss, Brig. James Mugira.

They said they were speaking voluntarily. Mugira said this reflected how professional the probe had been.
Security, Mugira stressed, was on high alert, adding that another attack was “very unlikely”. “If people think that they can attack Ugandans and get away with it, they are wrong because we have the capacity to hunt them down,” he said.

“We promised the public that we would hunt down the perpetrators of this cowardly and barbaric act and bring them to justice,” Mugira stated. “We have kept our promise.”

The hunt for more accomplices was still on, according to Mugira. He was flanked by army spokesperson Felix Kulayigye.

“If your children are getting involved in such activities, getting radicalized, inform us immediately,” Mugira stated. He hailed Kenyan and other countries’ security agencies for assisting Uganda to arrest suspects.

Haruna Hassan Luyima, 27
He is a businessman based at Majestic Plaza in Kampala. Speaking in Luganda, he said he took the Kenyan suicide bomber to Kabalagala and a bomb to Makindye House in Kampala. On July 9, Issa Luyima called me and said he wanted to show me where I would put a bag he had showed me earlier. He came with Edrisa Nsubuga (the other suspect).

On July 10, he took me to his home in Namasuba and I met a Somali and a Kenyan. Issa showed me a bag that I was to take to Makindye House. On July 11, along with the Kenyan suicide bomber, we took a boda boda to Kabalagala.

The bomber proceeded to the Ethiopian Village Restaurant. I went with the other bomb to Makindye but I did not detonate it. I dumped it in a shrub and left.

Edrisa Nsubuga, 30, businessman at Pioneer Mall in Kampala and a Bachelor of Commerce student of Makerere University:
Speaking in English, he said he took the Somali bomber to Lugogo and detonated the second bomb and studied the scenes. On July 11, we took a boda boda to Lugogo. I put a laptop bag that contained one of the bombs on a stool under a table. When a scuffle ensued over a phone, we used the opportunity to get in. Before the Somali joined other revellers, he showed me his clock, which had the time 11:15pm when the bombs were to go off.

I got out and later, a blast went off. I used the phone I had to set off the second bomb. Asked why he did such a thing, he said: “I was unemployed. I was emotionally distressed. I had problems. A lot of misunderstandings with my wife.”

Issa Luyima, 33, the key suspect and “foot soldier” in al-Shabaab fought with the militants in Somalia.
He studied at Brilliant and Kawempe High School in Kawempe before working at Kampala International University.
Speaking in English, he said he recruited his brother (Haruna Hassan) as well as the Somali and Kenyan bombers and he examined the target places. My rage was against the Americans whom I deemed were responsible for all the sufferings of Muslims around the world. Our aim was to kill Americans.

I did not want to work with my brother but recruiting other people was very risky, so I manipulated him.

Mohammed Mugisha, 24
The man, who looks older, is alleged to have links with al-Shabaab. Speaking in Luganda, he said: “I joined al-Shabaab in 2008, they were coordinating with al-Qaeda. I was sent here to rent a house in which the bombs were to be planned. I got a house in Nakulabye (a city suburb).

However, when an al-Shabaab team inspected it, they did not like it because they saw soldiers nearby.
I went back to Kenya where I was reprimanded for the mistake as we could easily be arrested.

The order to kill was from Abu Zubair, the al-Shabaab boss in Somalia

Ends

Somalia & Uganda: Two More Ugandan soldiers dies in fresh fighting with Al-Shabaab in Mogadishu

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Reports Leo Odera Omolo In Kisumu City

The semi-official government owned daily the NEWVISION has reported this morning that two Ugandan soldiers were killed on Wednesday in the fresh fighting in Mogadishu between Somali government forces and al-Shabaab Islamist militants.

Army spokesman Felix Kulayigye yesterday said the two peacekeepers were killed while defending the presidential palace.

Independent sources in Mogadishu said the dead included 27-year-old private Ismael (second name withheld). The New Vision could not immediately establish the identity of the other soldier.

The Ugandan soldiers were serving with the AMISOM, the African Union peacekeeping mission in Somalia.

“The soldiers were blown up in a bomb during a brief exchange with the Somali militants at 4:00pm,” the source narrated yesterday.

Kulayigye said the bodies were expected in the country last night. “We have been clashing with the militants since Monday when al-Shabaab attacked State House. Our soldiers were killed in defence,” he explained.

This latest attack comes just days after al-Shabaab attacked Somali government positions and other establishments guarded by AMISOM.

Ismael hails from a soldiering family in Lima village, Ludara county in Koboko district. His father (name withheld) served in different armies, including the Uganda Army and the National Resistance Army, now UPDF, before he retired at the rank of a sergeant in 1993.

Lima is survived by two wives and three children. He married both wives while on short leave from the peacekeeping mission. His first wife, who bore two children, hails from Bundibugyo district.

Ismael was last at home in 2008 when he married his second wife before returning to Somalia.

“It is a big blow to our family. The last time he came here there was merry-making in the family,” his brother, Ayimani, said on phone yesterday. Ismael was one of the 16 children in his family and the first-born of his mother.

“This boy shared everything he had with his family. When he came on leave from Somalia, he gave some of his earnings to his siblings to start up small businesses and farms,” Ayimani added.

Uganda and Burundi are the only countries which have contributed troops to the African Union peacekeeping mission in the war-torn Somalia.

Fighting in Somalia has killed at least 18,000 people since 2007 and sent hundreds of thousands more fleeing from their homes. Al-Shabaab, believed to have links with al-Qaeda, is fighting to overthrow the newly-established transitional government headed by Sheikh Sharif Ahmed.

On Tuesday, the US promised to step up assistance to the AU forces. The US warned of a growing threat from militants linked to al-Qaeda in Somalia and nearby Yemen. The US military assistance is expected to include additional equipment, training, logistical support and information-sharing, said Gen. William Ward, the commander of the US Africa Command.
There are about 6,300 Ugandan and Burundian troops protecting key sites in Mogadishu. There have been calls for their mandate to be widened to include enforcing the peace. The African Union Summit starting in Kampala soon is expected to discuss the issue.

Ward played down the impact of the recent bombings in Uganda on the resolve of the US to help and African states to send more forces to Somalia.

“At this point, they (troop-contributing nations) remain committed to it. So we take them at their word and we’re hopeful that will be the case.”

Ends

AU & Somalia: Kampala AU summit may broaden AMISOM presence in Somalia

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Writes Leo Odera Omolo

THE Africa Union (au) summit due to sit in Kampala plans to give the peace-keeping forces in Somalia a new mandate to enable them confront the Al-Shabaab terrorists.

The AU peace and security commissioner, Ramtane Lamamra, on Monday said the heads of state will consider giving the African Union Mission for Somalia (AMISOM) commanders broader authority when they convene on July 25 at Speke Resort Munyonyo.

“We would certainly give lee way to the forces so that they accomplish their mission in the most comfortable manner. The mission is quite complex, but we are confident in the good people on the ground,” he explained.

In an interview with Voice of Africa, the commissioner said if sufficient logistical support is got, another 2,000 troops will be sent to Somalia by September.

The US, the main AMISOM financial and logistical supporter, last week indicated it would back the proposed buildup.

The summit will also consider raising AMISOM’s strength from 8,000 to 20,000 troops. The forces will include troops from neighbouring countries.

A UN security council resolution had discouraged countries neighbouring Somalia from contributing troops as this could be viewed as part of the problem rather than the solution.

However, experts argue that after the Kampala bombings, there is renewed sense that frontline states such as Ethiopia and Kenya should join AMISOM, arguing that these countries are at a greater risk if Somalia became a base for the Al-Qaeda terrorists.

The Al-Shabaab militants on July 11 carried out twin bombings in Kampala, which they said was retaliation for the Uganda People’s Defence Forces’ deployment in Mogadishu.

President Yoweri Museveni has demanded a change of mandate to enable AMISOM enforce peace in Somalia.

Since Monday, AU commissioners and ambassadors have been holding pre-summit meetings at Munyonyo. Today, the AU executive council will meet ahead of the summit.

Non-AU dignitaries expected include Mexican president Felipe Calderon, Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, and UN secretary general, Ban Ki-Moon.

Ends

Kenya, African Union: Human Rights Watch accuses Kenya and AU of fueling Somali conflict

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Folks,

Why would Kenya be involved in this kind of mess? Who is behind this?

Whats up? Kenya Government should investigate. This is worrisome.

Judy Miriga
Diaspora Spokesperson
Executive Director
Confederation Council Foundation for Africa Inc.,
USA
http://socioeconomicforum50.blogspot.com

– – – – – – – – – – – –

Group accuses Kenya of fueling Somali conflict

A new report has accused the Kenyan government and African Union (AU)…

By Agencies

A new report has accused the Kenyan government and African Union (AU) forces of engaging of facilitating ‘illegal’ activities relating to decades long conflict in the lawless Somalia.

The latest report by Human Rights Watch accuses Kenyan government officials of directly co-operating with Somalia government military recruiters who conducted “a massive drive” in the Dadaab refugee camps last year, the report says. The report says the recruitment aided by Kenyan authorities was carried out under “false pretences”. It cites numerous sources who say the recruiters lied to potential conscripts about payments and told teenagers to falsely state they were adults in order for them to join government forces. The new report says the role of Kenya in recruiting Dadaab residents to fight inside Somalia violates humanitarian principles and refugee law on which they are based.

The rights group calls on the Kenyan government to acknowledge that the recruitment effort was “unlawful.” The African Union Mission in Somalia, made up of 5,300 Ugandan and Burundian troops, has conducted “numerous mortar attacks against enemy forces in densely populated areas of Mogadishu without regard for the civilian population, causing a high loss of civilian life and property,” the report says. And according to the report, the laws of war prohibit attacks that are indiscriminate. The report points out that in launching their own mortar shells from civilian areas, Islamist insurgents appear to be encouraging indiscriminate counter-attacks that “would kill civilians and thereby generate useful propaganda.” Human Rights Watch urges the US government to stop supplying mortars and shells to the Transitional Federal Government until the TFG respects the laws of war.

The report further suggests that Washington, the United Nations and African Union must stop turning a blind eye to their allies’ abuses on the ground. By strongly supporting the TFG, these outside interests often play a “counter-productive” role in Somalia, Human Rights Watch observes. Many analysts find it “simplistic” to base policy on the view that the TFG represents a real chance at peace and good governance for Somalia, while al-Shabaab is the potential leading edge of international terrorism in the region,” the report states. “The TFG remains a weak faction,” Human Rights Watch observes. And while some al-Shabaab leaders do have ties to al-Qaeda, the Islamist insurgency in Somalia is “far from a monolithic tool of Osama bin Laden.” This came after reports that the UU-backed TFG in Somalia and its Kenyan allies have recruited hundreds of Somali refugees, including children, to fight in a war against al-Shabab, an Islamist militia linked to al-Qaeda, according to former recruits, their relatives and community leaders. Many of the recruits were taken from the sprawling Dadaab refugee camps in northeastern Kenya, which borders Somalia.

Somali government recruiters and Kenyan soldiers came to the camps late last year, promising refugees as much as $600 a month to join a force advertised as supported by the United Nations or the United States, the former recruits and their families said. Across this region, children and young men are reportedly vanishing as all sides in Somalia’s conflict continue to recruit desperate refugees to fight in a remote battleground in the global war on terrorism from which they fled, community leaders say. It is unclear whether recruiting by the governments of Kenya and Somalia is really ongoing. However, according to reports, their military officers continue to train refugees at a heavily guarded base near the northern Kenyan town of Isiolo as the Somali government prepares for a long-planned offensive against the Shabab. A second camp is in Manyani, a training station for the Kenya Wildlife Service in southern Kenya, according to former recruits, relatives, community leaders and UN investigators. The Kenyan government has acknowledged that it is helping train police officers for Somalia’s weak interim government but said that the recruits were flown in from Mogadishu.

But another recent UN report on Somalia early this year insisted that recruitment of refugees, including underage youths, for military training was going on. Kenya’s training program, the report said, is a violation of a UN arms embargo, which requires nations to get permission from the UN Security Council before assisting Somalia’s security efforts.

Somalis should be encouraged to go back and build their own country

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Kenyans,

Those who trust in Allah, like the Somalis, are like mount Kilimanjaro which cannot be moved by the sea. The Lord or Allah will always be behind them from now and forever. Allah will always do good to the Muslims who abides with him. So I do not see the point why these true Somali believers would have the fear of going back to their mother land and build Mogadishu from its ruins.

Let Kenyans help the Somalis to go back to their home country. Life can not be build on immigrants who are just waiting, that one day, they will again vanish and go. Who will fill the vacuum they will leave by then?.

Somalis never wanted Said Barre. The man is already dead, I mean dead like DEAD, completely dead, not breathing anymore. So there should be no fear. Kenya will never be safe with a neighbor like Somalia today. It does not matter how many guns, or tanks we buy , our security is already compromised. Let us be realistic, I hope the Somali brothers will not take this as a bad advice: I do think that a wise man once said these words: “He who corrects s a scoffer gets himself abuse, and he who reproves a wicked man incurs injury”. But if you reprove a wise man, he will love you. I hope Somali brothers are not scoffers neither are they wicked. SO JUST TAKE THIS MY ADVICE AS A WISE MAN WOULD DO.

Hatred is bad and it stirs strife, but love covers all offences. But a rod is for the back of him who lacks sense. Just as Saitoti did to the demonstrators who did support an outlawed creature from Jamaica. Kenyans will not allow Somali immigrants to dominate their country economically or politically or even religiously. We can not allow aliens to start to dictate our destiny. Kenya has her own problems, infact, there are just more than enough to handle, and bringing more will just make our heads to crack for nothing.

Most of the immigrant Somalis now in Kenya think of money, not as a means, but as an end, the final destination. These people have even forgotten that their country they left behind really needs them. Somalia will not settle or grow without them. Money is not helium gas, it is not like leaves on eucalyptus trees. Soon we will be seeing in our capital city NAIROBI signs written like this: YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE???: Since all of us hasve a different meaning of what money means and NO two or three of us agree on a meaning, I think it is very risky having pirates money infiltrating our streets. If this is not stopped guys, in future, the pirates money will be used on even presidential or parliamentarian elections to buy votes, or buy ways for their favorites to take strategic positions in the government. Money, if not controlled, is a real deadly weapon, which should be looked into very carefully.

The Kenyan government, East African Community plus UN member states, should start to look into how Somalia refugees can be re settled into their own country. Somalis do not have their own Moses who will lead them through Cannan as the Jews did from Egypt some years ago. We have to provide them with another Moses.

This thing of staying in Kenya at their leisure has already proved to be a very big burden to us. We have pains, orphans, wounds, widows and injuries still from the US Nairobi embassy bombing, and we are not yet ready to forget those lives lost during the terrorist attack on our soil. 1998 is not all that so far away, and seeing this month when people carrying terrorist flags and supporting terror into our town can not just be forgiven that simple. So Somalis, Somalis, please start to buy sandukus and pack. Mogadishu is not that far away from Nairobi. UN will be your Moses to lead you back to Mogadishu.

Paul Nyandoto

Somali Fundamentalist Al-Shabaab: the Al-Qaeda Muslim’s Agenda for Kenya

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Folks,

This man Faisal should not have stepped back on the soil of Kenya after being deported.

This man Faisal MUST be put in a direct plane to JAMAICA that is where he belongs, that is his Country, let them deal with him. His Religion is immaterial right now. Let him face his own music……..We do not want a case imposed on us like the case of the stupid Kid of Nigeria, who aimed to bomb the Plane, which has now put the whole country into a mess.

I cannot imagine how some stupid crazy foreigners sneaked into Kenya, the Somali Islamist rebel group of al-Shabaab, proudly carry their terrorist flag of Al-Qaeda in Kenyan Soil…….this is Dhulma…….The Government must get rid of all of them immediately, including their flag back to where they came from. I support Prof. Saitoti 100%. They should not find a platform in Kenya. Not another one day…….they should also not be taken to Kenyan Court…….. they must be sent back to Somalia. We know they came through the boarder and were allowed in by the APs.

These are some of the reasons I opposed the recruitment of APs and their training…..they were a creation motive by Kibaki with his Mt. Kenya Mafia group…….now it is falling flat on his face……I am proud of Prof. Saitoti to have taken a firm stand opposed to President Kibaki. President Kibaki is failing Kenyans big time, that’s the reason why he has not spoken a word over this dangerous scenario.

We demand that the Army of Kenya take control of the border immediately and replace these APs……the Army should work hand in hand with the Kenya Police, not the APs. The APs Unit must be disbanded immediately.

I have just received a shocking news that, 4,000,000 (four million) Somalis have crossed Kenyan border and are in Mombasa, Nairobi, Masai Land, Kisumu and are sinking deeper into the rural village communities in Kenya within the last one year.

The government must not only be worried of this Jamaican cleric, but also the Somalis who are entering Kenya in large numbers, and buying not only the Masaais out of the Rift Valley, but also turning Nairobi into a Somali city. Kajiado is filled with Somalis and Indians, who run businesses, who cannot express themselves in either English or Swahili. These are Al-Qaeda Fundamentalists imported to create chaos in Kenya and spoil the good name of Kenya.

Kenya government must watch out on the Administration Police (APs) who are letting into Kenya Somalis through roadblocks, for example, on Dadaab and Garrisa roads, on payment of $300 per person. All the 4,000,000 Somalis that crossed the boarder illegally into Kenya must be weeded out of Kenya immediately. I am told this influx was allowed by the former Somali Police Chief, who has a more bigger agenda to turn Kenya into Somali owned country, through money coming from pirating, as well as other dubious activities.

Somalis are put in senior security positions in Kenya: Police and Army by the government!

What do we expect to happen but to open gateways of the runaway kinsmen, and to protect their political interests in the Leadership of Kenya from their failed country, Somalia. No wonder they are bragging that the Muslims will rule Kenya next. We are sitting on a powder keg as the government looks the other way! Hey, this too must be brought to the attention of the World to step in immediately to bring this case to a halting stop. We want an FBI interrogation, inspection and thorough investigation, all officials found involved with importation of these fundamentalists with the issuance of IDs must be got rid off, whether they belong to ODM or PNU. They are Kenyans enemies number one.

The Government and the Police must act now with an urgency before a lot of debate takes a wrong direction from sobriety. I am at a loss why the Minister for Foreign Affairs have not spoken……Wanainchi along with Prof. Saitoti must work hand in hand within an urgency framework, to get rid of this fundamentalists foreigners off the Kenyan
Soil. If the Government of Kibaki is playing dilly dally…….they must not be given one more day…….let the debate continue when they are already out of the Country. Any one with slightest move like the drama we have just seen, must be acted upon immediately.

Kudos to Kenyans Patriotics………

Regards.

Judy Miriga
Diaspora Spokesperson
Executive Director
Confederation Council Foundation for Africa Inc.,
USA
http://socioeconomicforum50.blogspot.com

Reunion with old friend Mika Utolo (1947 -1949)

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Corporal Mika Utolo was my close companion in 1947-49 when, as Sergeant Barker, 277 Field Security Section, Nairobi, I served my national military service in East Africa. We were sent to Hargeisa, then in British Somaliland. Mika Utolo taught me Swahili ya askari and was my right-hand man throughout a year in Kenya, Mogadishu, and Somaliland. He must by now be 80 years old or more.

By chance I came across this website and my first thought was, \”I wonder if Mika Utolo is still alive, and if so I wonder if I could contact him somehow\”.

This is an optimistic attempt to make contact with my old friend, and if Jaluo.com can post this note somewhere perhaps I could achieve that.

In Somalia I became a committed Christian and I know Corporal Mika was a faithful Catholic. Over to you!

Rev Peter Barker

African Union says foreign mercenaries from African nations and other countries are fighting alongside Somali terrorists

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THE AL SHABAAB ISLAMISTS TERRORISTS IN SOMALIA HAVE ACQUIRED THE SERVICES OF FOREIGN MERCENARY FIGHTERS RECRUITED FROM KENYA,UGANDA AND OTHER NATIONS.

News Analysis By Leo Odera Omolo In Kisumu City

KENYANS, and Ugandans are among more than one thousand foreign militants fighting alongside Al-Shabaab forces to overthrow the UN and African Union supported Transitional Somali Government..

This startling revelation was made yesterday in the Ugandan capital, Kampala, by the AU Special representative for Somalia, Wafula Wamunyinyi, a former Kenyan MP-turned diplomat..

The AU representative also listed Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, America, Tanzania ,Sudan as countries where Al-Shabaab militants have recruited its foreign fighters.

Speaking at the opening of a confidence building workshop for the Somalia peacekeeping mission, dubbed AMISOM, Wafula Wamunyinyi pointed out that the presence of Al-Qaeda in Somalia is real and the world should be put on notice.

The AU diplomat observed that the managers and operational commanders of Al-Shabaab belong to Al-Daeda.

“If we don’t put our hands together, the Al-Qaeda will take over Somalia and then spread its terrorists activities to other neighboring African nations, considering the grip they have on Somalia,” Wafula Wamunyinyi said.

“With the involvement of foreign fighters, we need to adopt a new approach towards the conflict in Somalia, away from the perception that these are sub-clans fighting.”

The Special representative informed the two days workshop, held at Speke Resort Munyonyo, that Al-Shabaab has established training camps with Al-Qaeda’s help and financial assistance. “With Al-Qaeda training, you know what to expect, suicide bombing and kidnaps,” he noted.

The AU official said Al-Shabaab foreign fighters strength is currently being estimated to be approximately 1200, half of whom are said to be Kenyans. But others are scattered in other smaller towns, scattered all over the Horn of African nations, and as such the exact figure cold not be assessed.

Wafula Wamunyinyi noted that the foreigners holding important positions within Al-Shabaab establishment as Sheikh Mohamed Abu Faid, a Saudi Arabian born, who is the financier and current ”manager”of the group, while one Abu Musa Mombasa is the head of security and training operations. Mombasa purportedly arrived in Somalia recently from Pakistan to replace Saleh Ali Nebhan, a Kenyan who was killed in US military operation.

Another important foreign element is Abu Mansur Al-Amrik,an American, heads the finance and payroll department of the foreign fighters, while Muhamed Mujijir, a Sudanese is in charge of recruitment of suicide bombers, said Wafula Wamunyinyi.

Also l listed is Ahmed Abdi Godane, an Al-Qaeda graduate from Afghanistan,and Abu Suleiman Banidiri, a Somali of Yemen descent.
Wafula Wamunyinyi said AMISOM has been able to collect valuable information about the fundamentalists through intelligence gathering . “Several militant foreign fighters have also been killed, “ he added.

The AMISOM spokesman, Major Bohoko Bargye told the government owned newspaper, THE NEWVISION that he had personally talked to the three of the Ugandan Al-Shabaab fighters, who issued threats against him, claiming that they knew his whereabouts, and the whereabouts of all his relatives back home in Kampala.

Ajor Bargye said the three spoke Luganda,Kifumbira and Iteso, local dialects in Uganda respectively. He said one of the Ugandan mercenaries had told him that he was a member of the Alliance Democratic Forces {ADF}, a rebel group that is fighting the Ugandan government and operating inside the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Majr Bohoko noted that despite the challenge posed by the militants, the AU mission would not demand a change of its mandate.

Al-Qaeda involvement was not a secret, he observed, saying the terrorists published their presence on the various websites, claiming they were in Somalia to defend their Muslim brothers.

“Going by the information we have gathered, these people are fugitives. They are being sought for by security agencies and criminal investigators for criminal activities, in other countries and were now caught up in this web”.
“They are creating anarchy because they don’t know where to go next if the conflict in Somalia get solved,”said Major Bargye.

He went on saying that Al-Shabaab Islamist Extremist want Somalia to be portrayed as a no-go area, a country that cannot be rectified, so that social criminals from around the world can continue operating from it with impunity.

The two day conference was intended to create awareness among the media and civil society organizations on current and potential peacekeeping troops contributing countries.

Uganda and Burundi are the only countries that have contributed soldiers to the AU mission..

Djbouti, Nigeria, Ghana, Sierra Leone and Malawi promised to send troops, but they have not done so. Out of the 8,000 soldiers needed to pacify the Somali capital, Mogadishu alone has 5,000 deployed.

Ends
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