The people of Somalia will forever be grateful to Kenya for helping them liberate Kismayu and other towns in the south of the war-torn country.
This is the passionate message to Kenyans from Somalia President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud.
“The Somalia government is truly grateful to Kenya for the contribution it has made to peace and stability in Somalia since 1991 up to recently when the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF), the African Union Mission to Somalia (Amisom) contingent and our national army liberated Kismayu,” the Somalia president says.
Speaking to The Standard On Sunday through his government’s Ambassador to Kenya Mohamed Ali Nur, President Mohamud said Somalia had reached “the lowest of the lowest,” but was confident that with Kenya’s and the international community’s support, the country is on track to recovery.
He appreciated KDF for helping the Somalia national army break Al-Shabaab and expressed confidence the few towns remaining under the influence of the fleeing AlShabaab would also be liberated soon.
“The KDF soldiers shed their blood in helping us liberate Somalia and we will never forget that,” he said. He also thanked the other Amisom supported countries of Uganda, Burundi, and Djibouti for sending their sons and daughters, some of who lost their lives in the war effort to bring back law and order to Somalia.
Civil war
Nur recalled that since 1991 when former President Mohamed Siad Barre’s government collapsed, Kenyans living close to the border had welcomed Somalis running away from the civil war and received them in their homes even before Dadaab and Kakuma refugee camps were built.
“We will never forget such gestures and the charity of Kenyans when they received our people with open arms and open hearts,” Nur says.
As the Somalia President is busy preparing to appoint a new Prime Minister and forward his name to Parliament for approval, he is also scorching rumours that the neighbouring Kenya will have leeway to install local temporary administration under the watch of KDF troops.
Mohamud is further assuring that the seaport city of Kismayu liberated from the Al Shabaab militia by KDF and the Amisom contingent will soon have an inclusive local administration. He says the Mogadishu-based government will widely consult with stakeholders, particularly the council of elders in Kismayu before naming an interim administration.
The new Kismayu administration would be inclusive and local council of elders would be involved to come-up with a broad-based initiative.
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