Jubilation for Nyeri couple as son who survived El-Adde Al Shabaab attack is flown home

Wlliam Kagume (left) and his wife Zippora Nyambura (right) brief the media at their home in Amboni, within Kieni, Nyeri county, January 21, 2016, on the recovery progress of their son Erick Wambugu who is undergoing treatment at Forces Memorial Hospital in Nairobi after he survived the terror attack on a Kenya Defence Forces camp at El Adde in Somalia with gunshot wounds. [PHOTO:MOSE SAMMY/STANDARD]

William Kagume and Zipporah Nyambura could not hide their joy when they saw their son Eric Wambugu disembark from a military plane at Wilson Airport.

The 29-year-old was one of the survivors of the El-Adde attack. Mr Wambugu, who is based at the Gilgil Army Barracks, was among the first batch of survivor to be flown into the country.

He left the country for the battleground immediately after Christmas. Wambugu was first deployed to Somalia in 2014 and this was the second time he was returning to the war torn country.

"We shed tears of joy after we saw our son on television disembark from the plane," his parents said.

Mr Kagume said, once they learned of the attack, they panicked.

"We first tried to get in touch with him through his mobile phone, but our efforts bore no fruit," he said.

But after they saw him on TV their fears ended and the following morning they travelled to the Forces Memorial Hospital in Nairobi where Wambugu was admitted.

"We are happy he is home though he lost some of his colleagues and we are praying for those families who lost their beloved," Kagume said.

He said that upon their arrival at the hospital they discovered that he was recovering from a bullet wound on his hand. On whether Kenya should pull out its troops from Somalia, the retired army officer said they were on a mission that needed to be accomplished.

"Other countries in the region have troops there and the deployment was for a reason. The army must complete its mission before any pullout," Kagume added.

Asked if they would like their son to continue being an army man, his mother said that they cannot tell him what to do.

She said the Government should continue with its mission in Somalia until the country stabilises.