Kibiwott Koross and John Ngirachu
16 November 2009
Nairobi — MPs have confirmed that Kenyans are being recruited to fight on behalf of the Transitional Federation Government of Somalia. A senior government official had admitted that he found out that 42 youths from his constituency had been recruited but were intercepted at Mwingi Town on their way to Manyani for training, they said.
A man who had been coordinating the recruitment has since gone underground, said the MP, who asked not to be named because the information is yet to be made public officially. Internal Security permanent secretary Francis Kimemia told the Nation on Sunday that under the agreement between Kenya and the Somali government, the neighbouring nation was to identify its citizens and hand them to Kenya for training.
The recruitment is done strictly within Somali territory and the youths are then brought into Kenya through the Liboi border point and then through Garissa, he said. He, however, conceded that the instability in Somalia and the lack of proper identification had made it easy for Kenyan youths to pass themselves off as Somalis with ease.
Somali is the name of the ethnic community spread out from north eastern Kenya, to Somalia. "We got to know of the youths we had accidentally recruited by their parents. Some thought it was normal recruitment for the Kenyan police and realised later they were going to fight for Somalia," said Mr Kimemia.
He could not be reached on Monday as it remained unclear why the youths were conscripted into the army at Garissa Primary School and taken to the boot camp at Manyani.
Immigration minister Otieno Kajwang is today expected to appear before the parliamentary committee on National Security and Administration, chaired by Mt Elgon MP Fred Kapondi. It is understood that the minister is expected to explain why illegal immigrants from Somalia were entering the country through Liboi immigration office without being screened.
He will also explain the circumstances under which the Kenyan youths were being enlisted to join the Somali forces. Mr Kajwang will be the third minister to be summoned by the committee after Defence Minister Yusuf Haji appeared before it last month. Foreign Affairs minister Moses Wetang'ula is later expected to appear before the committee to explain the source of funding for the training.
Mr Kimemia told the Nation more than 2,000 youths had been trained by Kenya on behalf of Somalia, but stressed that it would be against the agreement to train Kenyans. "We cannot train Kenyan youth to go fight in Somalia. That would be against the agreement we have with their government. Ideally, we should have taken them to court," he said.
Internal Security minister Prof George Saitoti will also be grilled by the commission on the same issue. According to the source, the committee has that a large number of Kenyan youths could be in Somalia fighting for its government.
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