Are we under siege? That’s the question every Kenyan is asking. Since time in memorial we have experienced several terror attacks in most of the Kenyan towns. Most frequented towns being Turkana, Mandera, Wajir, Lamu, Baringo, Mombasa, and Nairobi among others. All this ranging from inter community conflicts, extra judicial executions, gun shots, terror attacks and armed robberies.

These groups range from Mungiki, sungusungu, MRC, 42 brothers locally and AL-SHABAAB nationally and internationally. Al-Shabaab has been the major pain in the heart of Kenyans.

There have been many cases reported including: when a grenade was tossed out of a moving vehicle into the Machakos bus terminus. On Sunday, 29 April 2012, an attack took place at God’s House of Miracles Church at Ngara Estate in Nairobi. On Monday, 28 May, a blast went off from inside the Sasa Boutique located within Assanand’s House on Nairobi’s Moi Avenue, 27 people reported dead.

On Sunday, 18 November, 10 people were killed and 25 seriously injured when an explosive went off on a mass transit mini-bus in Eastleigh. On 21 September 2013, armed gunmen attacked the Westgate Shopping Mall in Nairobi, killing at least 69 people and injuring more than 175. On 22 November 2014, gunmen attacked a bus traveling from Mandera to Nairobi, killing 28 persons, mostly teachers.

The most traumatizing one when gunmen attacked Garissa University College killing more than 147 people most of them students. The loss of innocent and promising souls. Many have been left with scars, trauma and points to remember tis ordeals.

And just the recent one on our Kenyan soldiers in Somalia who are out there fighting to protect this country from these inhuman insurgents. From what majority of us have heard is that we have lost more than 60 soldiers, though the government hasn’t given Kenyans an exact figure. A famous blogger got arrested the other day for allegedly questioning the government on the real situation about the KDF attack.

Do you know the sad part? A Kenyan army unit reportedly decimated in an attack by al-Shabaab militants last Friday had received warning of the assault hours before the first bullet was fired according to a Somali general. This has been the case with many other attacks. Remember even the westgate mall, NSIS had already received word about an impending attack. Is it that people somewhere don’t know how to do their job or we will say, just like the garbage menace, that cartels are involved.

The major pain being that even as we celebrate them as heroes, what about their families, their children, their wives, brothers, sisters and parents. Yes, we know they have died as martyrs but their families are the only ones who bear the real pain. Remember these soldiers are the sole bread winners of their families. All we can hope for is that the government has a good plan in place to ensure that the affected families continue being taken care of.

We are proud of them fighting and representing our nation but will they continue losing their lives daily? They only get to see them in caskets if lucky but others are never found.

Is this the Kenya that we want to live in? The only thing is prayer and enough prayer to sustain us through all this. Let’s all unite and hold hands as we focus on fighting against terrorism.

Remember; ‘Usalama unaanza na wewe, Usalama unaanza na mimi’.

Comments

comments