Mandera County Governor Mohamed Khalif has asked President William Ruto to remove the Jubaland forces from the county immediately, threatening to do it himself if he does not.
Speaking on Friday, the governor revealed that the recently opened Jubaland camp had caused insecurity and prompted the closure of schools ahead of the upcoming national exams.
‘’We want to call upon President William Ruto, who is also the commander-in-chief, and ask that they close the BP1 camp opened recently. We are asking for an immediate relocation of Jubaland forces out of Mandera,’’ the governor said.
''I want to tell them, if you don’t do it, we will do it ourselves,’’ the governor continued.
According to the governor, a public school was closed and converted into a military training camp to accommodate the Jubaland forces.
He explained that the county has no interest in Somalia, and therefore Mandera's land, people and economic activities should not suffer because of Kenya's support for Jubaland.
‘’You cannot lock the residents' land, you can't close schools and the water supply, all in the name of supporting a faction in Somalia. We don't have any interest in Somalia,’’ the governor continued.
The speaker was speaking during the launch of a dialysis centre and the laying of a foundation stone for MRI and specialist clinics at the Mandera County Teaching and Referral Hospital.
Governor Khalif argued that the presence of the foreign forces undermines Kenya’s sovereignty.
The governor also called for the Kenya Defence Forces to pull out from supporting the Jubaland forces. He called for the immediate invention of the Defence CS.
Ethiopians were also not spared in the governor’s rant. The governor ordered Ethiopian nationals who were using the Mandera border to use other entries to access Jubaland.
‘’We are also asking our Ethiopian neighbours, kindly, to keep out of Mandera. If you want to support Somalia, there are a lot of border entries you can use. Don’t use Mandera Town as a support base,’’ the governor warned.
Earlier this month, Mandera residents staged protests demanding the immediate withdrawal of Jubaland forces from Kenyan territory, citing growing insecurity.
However, Jubaland Vice President Mohamed Sayid later denied the claims, insisting its forces were confined to the border area it shares with Kenya.
