Nairobi, April 14 (IANS) The Kenyan government has begun constructing a security wall along its border with Somalia to curb cross-border incursions by Somali Al-Shabaab militants.
Director of Immigration Services Gordon Kihalangwa, who officially broke the ground in Mandera late on Monday, urged the locals to support the project which he said would help prevent Al Shabaab militants from crossing into Kenya, Xinhua news agency reported.
Kihalangwa said the wall would run from Mandera in the north to Kiunga in the east coast, covering Mandera, Wajir, Garissa and Lamu counties.
He said the purpose of the wall was to demarcate the Kenya-Somalia border besides securing the country from Al Shabaab militants, adding that the government was doing everything possible to sensitise members of the public on the importance of the wall.
“The project is fully funded by the government with relevant government departments chipping in — the ministry of transport, the National Youth Service and Kenya Defence Forces have given their support to this noble task,” he said. “We will ensure that our borders are secure by preventing illegal immigrants and proliferation of small arms into the country.”
Kihalangwa said the wall would not bar cross-border movement, adding that there would be designated points for exit and entry into the country.
He revealed that machinery, equipment and materials for the construction are already on the ground.
Kenyan officials say the security wall will provide a long-term security effort to secure the border, adding that once the construction is completed, it will only be crossed by using the appropriate border points.
The Islamist Al Shabaab group has carried out a series of deadly attacks in northeast Kenya and other cities, including the capital city of Nairobi, since the East African country sent its military into Somalia in 2011 to fight the Al Qaeda-inspired group.
Kenyan authorities have also blamed the militants for being behind incidents of kidnapping of expatriates working in the sprawling refugee camps in the incursion-prone northern region and tourists in the coastal archipelago towns of Mombasa and Lamu.
Officials link these attacks to the fact that Mandera and Bula Hawa, an adjoining town in Somalia, are barely two km apart, thus making it easy for terrorists to cross the border and attack. Somalis living at Bula Hawa town had also violated the No Man’s land and encroached into Kenya. The wall will thus help rectify the situation, officials aver.