Kenya has sent a team of community elders to neighboring Somalia to start negotiations for the release of five abducted chiefs.
The five chiefs were abducted on Monday while assessing the security situation in Mandera county before President William Ruto’s tour of the region.
Intelligence reports indicate that upon the abduction of the chiefs, they were driven to Somalia and are currently held captive by suspected Al-Shabaab militants within Al-Shabaab cells in Jilib, Somalia. This is where the negotiations are being held.
The chiefs were on official duty traveling to Elwak area for a meeting to prepare for President Ruto’s week-long tour of the North Eastern region, when they were intercepted by their kidnappers and their vehicle driven towards Somalia
The missing chiefs are Mohammed Adawa, Mohammed Hassan Kulmia, Abdi Hassan Suraw, Mohammed Noor Hache and assistant chief Ibrahim Gabow.
This move has ignited a debate on the socials.
One netizen wrote,”Who negotiates with terrorists? And why did the government send elders to talk to those who abducted ordinary Kenyans? Let’s quit the 2027 political theatrics.”
Another wrote,”How do the community elders know where to get those terrorists? What guarantees their safety? Why couldn’t the Kenyan government engage the Somalia government as required in international diplomacy?”
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