Former presidential candidate Prof James Ole Kiyiapi has joined other leaders and the general public in asking President Uhuru Kenyatta-led government to withdraw the Kenya Defense Forces (KDF) from Somalia.
In a tweet on Monday, Kiyiapi said that Kenyans are perishing at home yet the soldiers are protecting the foreign land.
He argued that it is important for the government to ask the troops to retreat to the Kenyan border so that they can protect the innocent Kenyans.
According to Kiyiapi, the time for KDF conducting operations in Somalia is long gone.
"What is the strategic goal for KDF continuing to be in Somalia? Is the end in sight or we are there indefinitely? We seem to have more enemies at home - perhaps it is time to scale down troops there and begin a time-bound withdrawal," he tweeted.
His remarks come after activist Boniface Mwangi also asked Uhuru to consider the decision to ask the troops to leave the neighbouring country.
“Kenya can't enjoy peace because our borders are porous. The needless presence of our soldiers in Somalia lends credence to the oft murmured view that this is purely a business venture by powerful people who are minting millions by putting our boys in harm's way,” read Boniface Mwangi's tweet.
Kenyan soldiers entered into Somalia in 2011, in an operation dubbed Linda Nchi following a wave of attacks from the Al-Shabaab terror group.
The government declared the operation completed in March 2012, according to Wikipedia, but KDF joined AMISOM.