In the conference, Roba had no better words for the Kenya security operatives whom he accused of neglecting the fragile Somali boarder region under his government. Governor Roba by March 16 had survived six assassination attempts on his life reportedly by Al Shabaab.

Mandera is neighbor to Garissa county, the home county of Garissa University College, in the former Northeastern province, where a heartless slaughter of over 150 people took place on Thursday in broad day reportedly by the Somali based Islamist hardline militants Al Shabaab at a barrel of a gun.

Mr. Roba reignited the public opinion that; if state had no capacity to protect their own, there was then no reason to continue with an operation in the war torn horn of Africa state, a reason the Al Shabaab group has based on to attack Kenya and threatened the rest of the regional states especially Uganda.

“The government has a responsibility to protect the whole country, and there is no need for it to keep soldiers (in Somalia) to protect Somalis instead of protecting Kenyans,” he added. This debate never started with Governor Roba. Some schools of thought assert that the idea of deploying of the men and women in uniform by Uganda, Burundi and Kenya among other continental powers to help pacify the war torn Somalia had a big bare in it.

This monster, it is said has since given the region sleepless nights. Kenya Deputy President William Samoei Ruto in an earlier statement defended the state position. The Somali mission he said was a noble role for nations of good will especially in the region and Africa as a whole.

“As African leaders, we should be in the frontline helping our brothers and sisters in Somalia…We can be limited in capacity but not in the willingness to assist,” Ruto noted.

To authenticate his word, Mr. Ruto promised to establish an embassy in Somalia as a way of sealing the philanthropy.

“We are willing to share our expertise in infrastructure development, in education and in training the police in our efforts in stabilizing Somalia,” Mr Ruto was speaking after a talk with President of the South Western state of Somalia Shar, Hassan Sheikh Adan, who visited him at his official residence in Karen.

But DP Ruto as fondly known by his acolytes and supporters knew well the effort could come with a price namely a chunk of resources to part with as a way of giving capacity to a state to handle the consequences especially in security terms. Analysts assert that the placement of a Ksh 20 million, about bounty on suspected Garissa University siege mastermind Mohammed Kuno is a clear indication that state had known of their assailants and failed to act on the information obtained from their own reconnaissance.

Police say Kuno commands the militia along the border and is responsible for cross-border incursions in the country. In the recent past, he has intensified attacks in Northern Kenya and the Coast region, particularly Garissa, Mandera and Lamu, according to a statement that followed the bounty

Kuno is believed to be very religious and has been a madarasa teacher for several years. He worked for Al-Haramain Foundation between 1993 and 1995 before the institution was closed. At the time, he was known as Sheikh Mahamad. .He thereafter joined Al-Shabaab after being motivated by the ideology of the Islamic Courts Union to establish an Islamic statehood in Somalia.

Police adds that he holds three aliases: Sheikh Mahamad, Dulyadin and Gamadhere. The document notes most of “Sheik Mahamad’s” recruits are family members and former students of Madarasa Najah. He is also known to have an extensive terrorist network within Kenya, particularly at the Dadaab refugee camp.

“How then can a hardliner trailed to that level remain elusive to state security? These people should take full responsibility” Jared Odero, a student of literature and philosophy at Egerton University wonders.

According to Kenya president Uhuru Kenyatta, the attack is a result of lack of security personnel to pacify the nation. He has since called on the police, to turn down a court order that had barred the institution from recruiting 10,000 men force to control the situation with immediate effect

“We have suffered unnecessarily due to shortage of security personnel. Kenya badly needs additional officers, and I will not keep the nation waiting,” Uhuru noted in an address yesterday as the nation grieved the attack.

“I further direct the Inspector-General of Police to take urgent steps and ensure that the 10,000 recruits, whose enrollment is pending, promptly report for training at the Kenya Police College, Kiganjo.”

To the young men and women who according to Kenyan Ex-premier and Leader of Opposition Cord Coalition Raila Odinga were “beaming with hope for themselves and their country, which they certainly hoped to help change and develop”, May their souls rest in peace!

By Amos Desmond Wambi

The post Was the Garissa attack a laxity in the Kenya security circles? first appeared on Uganda Multimedia News & Information.

Ugandan President Gen. Museveni Kaguta in his capacity as the commander in chief of Uganda armed forces has today sent 2,831 troops to Somalia to fight the Al Shabaab militants.

The soldiers Museveni has sent to Somalia are to be deployed in battle group ten. Battle group 10 has replaced battle group eight.

The UPDF Amison leadership and members of the Pan Africa Parliament (PAP) have confirmed the new deployment by president Museveni.

Some of the soldiers sent to Somalia we talked to sounded happiness in serving and bringing peace in Somalia.  There is a ceiling of 6363 soldiers for Uganda and president Museveni’s deployment rotates within that number.

The soldiers the president has sent to Somalia spent the whole of last week in training in order to get acquainted with the welfare and operations of Ugandan soldiers working under the Amisom partnership.

Ends

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Uganda peoples Defence Forces in conjunction with US air force and Kenya are investigating claims that the Al Shabaab militants had a key role in Uganda’s crashed military war planes.

The three Uganda planes crashed down in Kenya forests on Sunday last week under mysterious circumstances. The Kenya rescue team on Thursday recovered the last four missing bodies of UPDF soldiers inside the burn-out wreckage of one of the three Ugandan military helicopters. The number of the dead soldiers in this helicopter crash was seven.

Sources within UPDF told our informers that US is aiding Uganda to investigate claims that the planes were brought down by Al Shabaab militants over Uganda’s involvement in Somalia war. The Al Shabaab fighters warned Uganda before it took its armies to Somalia that deploying her soldiers in Somalia would rub off the good relationship Uganda was enjoying with Somalia. President Museveni of Uganda, using his chair as president did not listen and took the Uganda soldiers to Somalia. The Al Shabaab kept on advising Uganda to withdraw from Somalia and president Museveni’s government kept a deaf ear. So the suspected Al shabaab terrorists had nothing but to bomb Kampala social scenes in which over 76 people perished and scores of others got injuries. Uganda government intelligence network although it tells people that the three planes crashed due to bad whether, inside its operations suspects foul play of the Al Shabaab militants.

Ends

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Even though the UPDF spokesperson, Lt. Col. Felix Kulayigye argues that the said planes were not gunned down but just had a hard landing due to whether, sources in military have it that the Al Shabaab intelligence very much followed the movement of the planes and they had to stop them before thus resulting into the said shooting down of the three Uganda Russian made war airplanes.

This is very much evident because it was only jet fighters which were gunned down and the so called cargo carrier reached the destined point inMogadishu.

The post UPDF and Amson under fire from Al Shabaab first appeared on Uganda Multimedia News & Information.

Police and the army have intensified surveillance in Eastern Uganda following intelligence reports that the deadliest Al Shabaab fighters could be planning to attack this side of the country on August 3 in order to punish Uganda’s deployment of soldiers in Somalia.

The Police spokesperson for Eastern Uganda Diana Nandawula confirmed these terror threats but she assured Ugandans that the police are in control of the situation.

Thousands of people, especially the Bagishu are expected to attend the official launch of the Bagishu traditional circumcision season, called Imbalu. Nandawula says that the terrorists could be planning to hit Mbale town and the surrounding area which are the main venues for the Imbalu tradition.

Sources in security told us that the Inspector General of Police, Kale Kayihura has already requested the leaders of Bagishu communities to be on alert over the possible terrorist attacks.

The launch of Imbalu is usually characterised by over drinking of beer, drunken driving, thefts, rape, general chaos and defilement.

The post Police beefs up security in eastern Uganda over Al Shabaab attack threats first appeared on Uganda Multimedia News & Information.

The suspected terrorists bombed Uganda’s neighbour Kenya last week and the Kampala Metropolitan police commander, Felix Kaweesi says the police can’t allow a big number of people to hold meetings in any place without access controls.

He says that even if the organisers of the functions notify police the police has a right to put down the requests the moment it sees that there would be no security for people in attendance.

However Col. Kiiza Besigye of FDC says that they will continue with their meetings across the country because it is their human right to assemble and it is the work of police to give them protection.

The post Police bans public gatherings over Al Shabaab bombing threats first appeared on Uganda Multimedia News & Information.

Uganda’s intelligent network has got information that the Al Shabaab fighters are planning to use masked men and women to gun political and religious gatherings in Uganda. A source in state intelligence told our reporters that the fighters want to launch simultaneous attacks even on some of the police stations in Uganda but the security in Kampala is already on alert.

Uganda and other east African community states of Kenya and Tanzania have suffered a series of blasts from the Al shabaab terrorists over their support to the US government. The situation worsened after Uganda and Burundi sent troops to Somalia on a peace keeping mission to crush the Al Shabaab Islamic fighters whom the Barack Obama government in US calls terrorists. The suspected Al shabaab fighters also yesterday reportedly attacked the churches in Kenya and killed 17 Jesus’ followers and 45 others were wounded.

Ends

The post Intelligence briefing: Al Shabaab terrorists plan fatal attack on Uganda first appeared on Uganda Multimedia News & Information.

The security organs in Kampala, including the police, Military Police, UPDF and other security network have beefed up the security to avert any threat of the second attack of Kampala by the said terrorists.

The Al Shabaab insurgents bombed Kampala social centres (Lugogo and Kabalagala) on July 11th, 2010 in which over 76 people died and scores of others injured while watching the World Cup finals. The Al Shabaab are waging fatal military attacks on Uganda because Uganda deployed its troops in

The post Security beefed up in Kampala as Al Shabaab plan second launch first appeared on Uganda Multimedia News & Information.

The Uganda Government is already prepared for Al Shabaab. Uganda’s security agencies are all on high security alert. A source in the Military told us that Uganda’s army, the UPDF has already passed out 180 crime preventers to beef up the security in taxi and bus terminals.

Kampala Metropolitan Police commander, Andrew Kaweesi says that the police working with other security agencies have beefed up security at bus terminals and taxi parks.

The managers of taxi and bus parks have been instructed by the police to conduct compulsory security checks on travelers before them board buses and taxis. Suspected Al Shabaab fighters last attacked Uganda on July 11^th 2010.

The post Al Shabaab rebels plan to bomb taxi parks first appeared on Uganda Multimedia News & Information.

Security sources in Uganda tell us that the Al Qaeda and Al Shabaab rebels plan to use East African countries through the links they have with East African rebel groups like interahamwe, LRA and ADF. Al Qaeda and Al Shabaab want to bomb all East African states for their refusal to urge Burundi and Uganda to pull out their troops from Somalia. Uganda and Burundi took the their troops to Somalia on a peace keeping mission.

Following this development the East African security chiefs met in Kampala yesterday to design measures of how they will tame the security threats from Al Qaeda and Al Shabaab.

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