Don’t withdraw civil servants from the North-Eastern Kenya, leaders urge

Leaders from North-Eastern have sharply reacted to the statement made by some unions asking their members to withdraw their services from the region.

Led by Balambala MP, Abdikhadir Aden, the leaders said the action by the unions amounts to punishing innocent children, parents and local communities for crimes committed by terrorists who have carried out similar attacks in other parts of the country.

“We are deeply saddened by the brutal murder of 28 innocent Kenyans by Al-Shabaab and we condemn their satanic action. The people of this region are grieving just like the families and friends of those who were murdered because the deceased were giving them highly needed services,” he noted.

He added: “If our people had the privilege to know the unfortunate incident was coming, I’m sure they would have stopped it or died with the victims. Teachers and medical officers are professionals the local communities respect and love more than any other civil servant.”

The legislator called on Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) and other unions who declared the region a no go zone to have their members reconsider their stand.

Mr Aden said: “The teachers’ union’s move will be double tragedy for the children and parents who are already terribly devastated by the death of their beloved teachers and medical officers.”

Aden urged the Government to put stringent measures in place to ensure safety of all Kenyans living or working in the region bordering the war-torn Somalia as provided in the Constitution.

Speaking separately in Garissa, the chairperson of Fafi District Peace Committee, Iman Sigat described the remarks by the unions as unfortunate.

“The statement coming from civil servants’ unions is bordering on accusing the people of North-Eastern  of committing the act of terrorists that led to the cowardly killing of our teachers and other civil servants. Knut shouldn’t pretend it suffered more loss than we did,” he said.

Don’t condemn

He added: “Parents and families from this region have suffered similar losses not only at the hands of Al-Shabaab, but also at the hands of other criminals. We lost more than 20 of our sons in Baragoi, Tana River and Kapedo and we are proud they died serving their country. We shouldn’t be condemned for acts of criminals unfortunately associated with our religion or tribe.”

The Wajir ODM Branch Secretary General, Ibrahim Mohamed said the statement made by the unions will give impetus to the blood thirsty criminals as they would have succeeded in dividing Kenyans.

“If we withdraw some civil servants serving in North Eastern on the basis of insecurity, the militia is likely to target civilians from other regions. We urge the unions to rescind their decision so that we can fight together,” he added.