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{
    "id": 326014,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/326014/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 168,
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    "content": "Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, we say if we could recreate Dadaab inside Somalia, then maybe some of these people will rather be IDPs within Somalia rather than refugees in Kenya. We have not yet reached an agreement with the UNHCR, but now that the situation is improving, we hope that this matter will be addressed in due course. Hon. Affey, of course, stated the obvious that military is not the solution. Force can never be a solution to a conflict such as this one in Somalia. That is why in my Statement I said that we are working closely with the new Government in Mogadishu and we are also going to assist them to create a stable civil authority within Somalia itself. So, we are not trying to apply force. Force was just an absolute necessity after all other peaceful avenues to the resolution of the conflict had failed. That is why we decided to answer force with force. We know that it is not a lasting sustainable solution to the conflict in Somalia. Therefore, we are going to work very closely with the international community to assist the new Government in Mogadishu. The hon. Member for Kiambaa, hon. Githunguri, congratulated the troops, which we have done and wondered when we are going to visit the troops. I know that the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces of the country maybe visiting the troops any time. So, I want him to know that the Government will pay a visit to our troops. But we have already congratulated them and we are in constant contact with them. Hon. Gumbo wanted to know what honours the Government is going to bestow upon the soldiers including the fallen heroes; those who have paid the ultimate price in defence of their country. These are Kenyan patriots. These are Kenyan heroes who deserve the highest recognition. I want the hon. Member to know that we have an institution that deals with conferring honours to Kenyans who have served this country exemplary in different capacities. That is going to be done when the time comes. Hon. Nyambati was concerned about the timetable for withdrawal. We do not intend to stay in Somalia even a minute longer than necessary. We also do not want to put a timeframe on this because our own security is involved. We are working closely with the rest of the international community on this issue. So, as and when our security personnel make an assessment and advise that our presence is no longer necessary, we will withdraw. However, the Members need to know that our forces there now are part of the AMISOM troops which include soldiers from Ugandan, Burundi and Djibouti. Shortly, they will be joined by troops from Sierra Leone. So, it is not a solo effort by Kenya. It is an AU mission out there in Somalia. Hon. Nyamweya’s is, of course, an extension of that question. He said that we should involve the international community. We have been urging the international community all this time to get involved. As you know, given the experience of the 1990s, the international community has been very reluctant to offer personnel to Somalia. That is why Kenya reluctantly agreed to move in there. We had Ugandan and Burundi troops operating from around Mogadishu under AMISOM. However, because Kenya shares a common border with Somalia, we had desisted from sending soldiers inside Somalia. We were only forced to do so when there was no other avenue. It was when they attacked our territory and this was destabilizing our own economy. That was when we decided to send our troops there. We have said that there is need for peace keeping efforts and more importantly for more civilian support with regard to supplies. This is because the country which has not had civilian authority for over 20 years has been devastated."
}