If you can recall, PoinkBlank wasn’t excited about Kenya’s Somalia incursion. We even advised against it for obvious reasons. Somalia has been a hard nut to crack; even Americans left crestfallen after failing to pacify the country. Our second fear was based on Kenya’s proximity to Somalia and the threat that this poses in terms of terrorism.
It seems we were wrong, at on the first point. We underrated KDF’s firepower. KDF and allied forces have made remarkable progress so far. Currently, KDF is gearing up for a major offensive against Kismayu.
Freedom
This, we have been told, is the toughest assignment for the gallant Kenyan forces, as the port city is deemed as the most important fort for Al Shabaab. Notably, the militia has been sent packing from some of their major strongholds, and now large swathes of Somalia are savouring freedom after years under the heel of the militia.
KDF hopes to liberate Kismayu by August. We wish them Godspeed. We also pray that Kismayu will fall quickly and that that fall will herald the peace that has eluded Somalia for two decades.
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Lion’s share of blame over lions’ deaths
Mr Gachiengo Gitau, like most Kenyans, was shocked by news of the killings of six lions in Kitengela. Lions, he notes, are a treasured natural resource that should be protected at all costs. However, he adds, humans are of more value than lions. Gitau castigates “armchair critics” who he claims have gone overdrive with catchy phrases such as “it’s humans who have encroached on the turf”.
He argues that no one is indigenous to where they stay as we have all encroached on a preserve of some other previous occupants; human, wildlife or plants. The animal slayers could have erred, but so did KWS, which deserves the lion’s share of blame.
“I doubt anyone would see some marauding lions in the dead of night and merely calmly make a call to KWS and wait for them to take their sweet time to come and ensnare them.” On such a night, he says, everyone would wish to have a lionhearted warrior for a neighbour.
Gitau also thinks the media stretched the matter a shade to far: “I doubt the sensational coverage given the event would have gone beyond the ‘News In Brief’ segment, if it was a local who was mauled by a lion.”
