President Uhuru Kenyatta has long rooted for the continued stay of the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) in Somalia for as long as it takes to pacify Kenya's neighbour that is grappling with the Al-Shabaab menace.
That counter-terrorism strategy is now in jeopardy of unravelling after Mandera East Member of Parliament Omar Maalim filed a petition in Parliament seeking the withdrawal of KDF from Somalia.
Speaking to the media on Tuesday in Parliament, the MP said that the involvement of KDF in Somalia had not helped reduce terror incidences in the country.
"I think it is the right time to withdraw the KDF from Somalia. That is why this petition is in Parliament in order to make the national government see it fit that it is no longer tenable for KDF to be in Somalia. We are getting more incidences even this morning we have had the incidence that happened in Garissa County,'' MP Maalim said.
Mr Maalim contended that the people of Mandera East had borne the brunt of the deadly Al-Shabaab attacks, adding that the deployment of KDF in Somalia had left Kenya's borders porous.
According to him, Kenya was worse off with KDF in Somalia.
KDF has been in Somalia for over seven years in an operation aimed at securing Kenya's border and reducing the capacity of the terror group to mount attacks in Kenya.