Friday August 14, 2015
Former Chief of Defence Forces, General Julius Karangi (right) and Solicitor-General Njee Muturi during the Law Society of Kenya conference in Diani on August 13, 2015.
Retired Chief of General Staff Julius Karangi has told off the Opposition over its call for Kenya to withdraw its soldiers from Somalia.
The retired General said the time was not ripe for a pullout. He warned that withdrawing the troops would create a vacuum in the 300,000-kilometre Juba buffer zone and expose Kenya to more terror threats.
He directed the remarks to Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka, who represented the Opposition at the Law Society of Kenya annual conference at the Leisure Lodge Beach and Golf Resort in Diani, Kwale, on Thursday.
Rtd General Karangi delivered a speech on security and terrorism to over 1,000 lawyers, who gave him a standing ovation.
Mr Musyoka had said: “Continued terror attacks that resulted in the collapse of tourism led us to send our troops to Somalia. But now it’s time we reviewed our position because their continued stay there does not serve a very useful purpose.”
But rtd General Karangi accused the Opposition of hypocrisy, saying some of its members were part of the team that made the decision to take the soldiers to Somalia.
He said the decision was taken by President Mwai Kibaki, Vice-President Musyoka, Prime Minister Raila Odinga, Foreign Affairs minister Moses Wetang’ula and the national security committee.
“I was only ordered to implement it,” he said.
The retired general further said the decision was not made as a result of a decline in tourism.
“We went to Somalia to create a buffer zone between Kenya and Juba River, which Al-Shabaab had made its home.