adminThe mass funeral service which was held in Mwingi town marred by emotions and grief which ran high as the ten victims were later laid to rest after being killed by a spray of bullets and grenades at the African Inland Church (AIC) in Garissa in northern Kenya on July 1.
Hundreds of people from all walks of life had the opportunity to reflect on this sad reality of life and insecurity posed by terrorists as most speakers including
Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka saying death is an inevitable end every human being must experience one day.
The local leaders who attended the service condemned the attack and called for proper investigations to establish the motive of the attacks.
Musyoka urged Kenyans to support community policing in the fight against terrorism among other criminal activities if the vice has to be contained.
He said security personnel alone cannot eliminate acts of lawless without support from members of the public who might in one way or another live with the criminals.
“Security matters should not be left to security agents alone.
“This is a collective responsibility that each one of us must take part in exposing criminals amongst us,” the vice-president said in Mwingi.
He lauded the move by Christians and Muslims to work together in the fight against terrorism, noting that it was not time to engage in blame game over the matter.
“I appeal to each one of us to avoid engaging in blame game whenever there is a problem as such kind of a situation can lead to hatred among ourselves.
“We should instead get the root cause of such problem and explore ways of containing it,” said Musyoka.
On July 1, four heavily armed men stormed two churches in Garissa town killing 17 people including two police officers, one Juvenile male in an attack reminiscent of the Boko Haram in northern Nigeria.
The four attackers who were all armed with guns stormed the AIC at 1030 a.m. local time and shot dead the two Administration Police officers manning it before proceeding inside the church where they hurled a hand grenade at the worshippers and then proceeded to shoot un discriminatively.
In a span of 30 seconds, ten people lay dead on the floor with more than 50 injured, others critically. The church had at the time of the incident 150 worshippers.
The AIC attack coincided with another attack that occurred at St. Mary’s Catholic Church 1030 a.m. that left three people seriously injured after a hand grenade was hurled at them, clearing showing that the twin attacks were well coordinated.
On Tuesday, Musyoka said the Kenya Defense Forces (KDF) which launched cross border incursion into Somalia in October 2011 played a greater role in restoring peace in the two nations.
“We should know that our forces in Somalia are working for the benefit of not only security in that country but also here in Kenya.
“If there is no security in Somalia, there will also be no security here in Kenya,” Musyoka told the mourners.
He said the government has launched investigations to establish the root cause of the attacks which took place in Garissa with a view to bringing the culprits to book.
“I want to make it clear that it is the responsibility of the government to ensure security for all Kenyans in any part of this country as enshrined in the constitution,” he said.
The vice-president said Kenyans should regard each other as brothers and sisters, noting that all people were free to live and own property in any part of the country without any fear.
He asked leaders from Ukambani region to unite and work together in fighting poverty among other problems facing residents in the region.
“I am ready to work with everybody in this country for the sake of peace and stability.
“We have to unite as leaders and help our people fight poverty. I don’t have any problem working with anybody for the good of this country,” Musyoka said.
Ministry of Defense Assistant Minister David Musila condemned the terrorism attacks, saying the criminal activity was a threat to political and economic growth of the
country.
He said it is discouraging that none of the criminals has been brought to book.
He called on police to show their seriousness in the fight against the menace.
“As we bury our brothers and sisters today, let’s hope this is the last criminal activity to be witnessed in our churches,” said Musila who is also the local Member of Parliament.
The MP said development was elusive to achieve without peace and called for concerted efforts in the fight against criminal activities. — Xinhua
Online Reporter