The government of Kenya has been urged to pay families of soldiers who succumbed to death following an ambush in Somalia by Al-Shabaab militants salaries of their remaining years of service and another Sh5 million per family.
Kenya lost an unknown number of soldiers in El Adde camp in Somalia over a week ago with the top military brass promising to officially announce the exact number after a search and rescue mission is completed to rescue a number of soldiers believed to have been kidnapped from the camp.
Speaking in Kisii town on Sunday, Senator Janet Ong’era said the families of the deceased soldiers should receive the entire salary for the remainder of the years their loved ones were supposed to serve in the defense forces.
“This (attack) was the biggest setback for our country and I feel the affected families. I want to urge the government to consider paying a consolidated salary of the remaining period the soldiers were supposed to serve the nation. This will be a huge boost to some of those young families. We also want to see each family receiving a separate Sh5 million,” she said.
According to Ong’era, most of the soldiers who died left behind young families which needed a lot of care from their loved ones.
“We all know that a number of those who died were young people with young families. These families should receive a package of the remaining years their loved ones were supposed to serve in the force. That can really help to uplift their lives,” she said.
She also urged the government to withdraw its troops from Somalia arguing that it would be better if they were stationed in the porous Kenya-Somalia border rather than being stationed in the interior parts of the war-torn nation.