The Kenyan police and the military have been accused of growing number of serious civilian abuses since the Kenya invaded Southern Somalia in October to fight the Al-shabaab, a ragtag militant group in the horn of Africa country. The international human right lobby group Human Right Watch has condemned the Kenyan security forces for arbitrarily detaining and beating citizens and Somali refugees in North Eastern province of Kenya. - Human Right Watch said early this year security forces ransacked villages, rounded up and beat residents of Garissa in North Eastern Province. “When military officers can beat civilians in broad daylight without fearing repercussions, it’s clear tha…

Following Kenya's incursion in October last year, the operations of the Kenya military and the police in Northern Kenya and Somalia remained a top secret. Kenya media reports were awash with news about Kenya military "pursuing the enemy". Little were told about its other dark side. But reports emerge about the pains the locals endured for "hiding al-Shabaab"- the horn of Africa terror group. - Pictures obtained by AfricaNews illustrate untold brutality the Kenya Armed Forces meted on refugees at the Ifo camp in Dadaab in Northern Eastern Kenya. Many suffered fractures on the limbs and deep cuts on their heads. On December 21, armed regular and administration polic…

An international human right lobby group, the Human Right Watch (HRW) has decried the continued civil right abuses inflicted on civilians in Somalia following the Kenya's incursion into the horn of African nation in October. HRW asked Kenya to investigate the death of villagers during an air strike by the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) where an unconfirmed number of people were killed and scores injured. - “The government of Kenya should investigate the death of as many as 11 civilians during a Kenyan air force raid on Hosingow village in Somalia on December 20, 2011, Human Rights Watch said in a statement. According to witnesses, KDF bombed makeshift huts including a school killin…

A deadly truck bomb exploded in Somalia's capital Mogadishu on Tuesday morning, killing dozens and leaving scores injured. According to witnesses, shocking scenes were seen with 'many' dead bodies scattered across the streets. The victims included students who were awarded scholarships to study in Turkey which has become a major supporter of Somalia in recent times. - Health officials and paramedics who handled the casualties said about 55 people lost their lives and scores fatally wounded, with the injured jamming the dilapidated and ill-equipped hospitals. The bomber was reportedly on a truck stacked high with scrap metals, to conceal the explosive. The target was a struc…

Tension is high in Liboi at the Somalia border as more than 700 refugees arrived in the Kenyan town escaping the Somalia fighting between the Islamist Al Shabaab and Somalia's Transitional Federal Government forces backed by AMISOM in Dobley. - Hundreds of refugees fled the fighting in Somalia into Kenya at Liboi, prompting the government to act to contain the influx and deploy heavy security at the border. The town which is just five kilometers from the Kenyan border is a strategic crossing point for people fleeing the lawless Somalia to Dadaab refugee camps, some 100 kilometers into North eastern Kenya. The casualties in the fighting were treated at the Liboi dispensary while th…

As the devastating drought causes havoc on the Horn of Africa region the number of people affected is staggering. Food, water, medical care and proper housing have become elusive. As a result hundreds of thousands of people have fled their homes in search of basic necessities. - Kenya’s Dadaab refugee camp where people fleeing the drought and the fighting in Somalia have been seeking refuge is bursting at the seams. The camp which is about 50 miles from Somalia’s border was initially meant to hold just 80,000 people now has a population of some 450,000, and the number is swelling as hundreds of refugees trickle in daily. “These are very difficult circumstances not seen i…

The United States is creating a base in Ethiopia to coordinate and fly drones over the Horn of Africa countries especially Somalia. The drones known as MQ-9 Reaper based in Seychelles can supplement air strikes on targets inside the war torn Somalia. The US military has a base in Djibouti which existed for years now. - According to the Washington Post the Pentagon has also started flying armed drones from a base in the Seychelles to Somalia. The United States has in the past launched dangerous drone attacks in Somalia as well as in Libya, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iraq, and Yemen. The move to construct a drone base in Ethiopia is seen to increase the already-comprehensive military collabo…

The Islamist group fighting in Somalia Al-Shabaab has awarded assorted weapons including bombs and AK47 rifles to young school children who have won a Qur'an recital contest. Radio Andalus, which was forcefully captured by the group from former Mogadishu based-radio of Horn Afrik and now under Al-Shabaab, organized the competition. - A big ceremony held in Mogadishu on the fringes of Elasha, was attended by senior officials of al-Shabaab group where they directed the children to go into “Jihad” referring to the ongoing fighting in Somalia and battle against Somalia’s Transitional Federal government(TFG) and the “infidels” (African Union troops in Mogadishu)…

The police in Kenya can no longer forcefully arrest suspects without justifying their actions in writing. This is contained in a new regulation in the National Police Service Act enacted last week. The guide cautions against the use of force when arresting suspects. It also lays down that the slightest use of unnecessary force must be explained. - This is a major reprieve for Kenya Muslims as they constantly faced brutal force by the police when arresting suspects. In July this year, about 10 armed police officers entered forcefully into households in Majengo, Mombasa County in Coast province and arrested three ‘terrorism suspects’. During the raid the police entered houses a…

Two Kenyan soldiers have gone missing in Somalia, after they reportedly got lost during an operation at the border with Somalia. Confirming the incident, assistance minister for defence Joseph Nkaissery said corporal Evans Mutoro and senior sergeant Jonathan Kipkpsgei Kangogo have not been traced since the morning of July 24. - In the company of sergeant Said Abdiaziz, the duo were on a military re-supply mission in Wajir County in North Eastern Kenya near the border of the war torn Somalia. The defence minister said the three lost their way and went into Somalia near the border village of Diif about 105km east of Wajir town and were 60km into the lawless state when they were captured by …

"It was in 1967 when contingents of armed military invaded the villages in Wajir town .They beat women and gang raped them in turn. Men were bundled into Lorries and assembled at different destinations. Some were tied at the neck and towed at the back of a moving vehicle until their body is cut into pieces," said Mrs. Abdia Warmoge, when she gave her testimonies to the Kenya's Truth, Justice and Reconciliation commission (TJRC) recently. - It was against such backdrop the commission was formed in Kenya to lead an inquiry into gross human rights violations and other historical injustices in Kenya between 12 December 1963 and 28 February 2008. But the burning issue is whether…

It is 9:43 am East African time. Pale, exhausted, thirsty and hungry, a group of women arrives pursuing donkeys at Waal Adhi water point about 105 km east of Wajir town in north-eastern Kenya. Clad in tattered clothes locally known as guntina, they offload the donkeys as they embark on a ferocious mission to fill the 20-litre Jerri cans with water. But this is not for the faint-hearted or simply put, not for women as the demand for water may sometimes lead to fist-fight. - Looking frustrated they clink unto the containers by the handle. It is mannish affair as men exchange unprintable words in mother tongue. “If only they could give us a chance to explain ourselves,” says Fatu…

It's half past noon in El-wak, the headquarters of the newly created Mandera central district. The sun is harshly sweltering. The wind puffs leafless trees. Few people can be found on the meandering pathways as the heat keeps them indoors. Like any other town in Northern Kenya, the effects of the devastating drought are apparent. - The situation here is chilling as thousands of residents find themselves between a rock and hard surface. Reports show that mass numbers of residents in northern Kenya are on the verge of catastrophe following the acute drought currently wrecking havoc in many parts of Kenya if urgent humanitarian assistance does not reach the people. The Ministry of Li…

When Aden Abdi, 23, joined college hopes were that his life will be brighter and that he will eradicate poverty out of his rustic family away from despondency. He joined one of the most prestigious public middle level colleges in Kenya's coastal town of Mombasa. Two and a half years later he boastfully graduated with a diploma in Procurement and Material management. - Laden with multihued certificates, he came back to his rural home of Wagberi Village in Wajir County. Every morning he strolled from office to office, his certificates tucked in brown envelope in the hope of landing a high-status job. “Meanwhile we don’t offer a job but you can leave with us your testimonial…

Call it "the city within a city," "Mogadishu ndogo (Small Mogadishu)" or whatever name, Eastleigh district in the Kenya capital city of Nairobi is without doubt the most vibrant and budding commercial hub in East Africa, generating millions of shillings in taxes remittance to the local and central governments of Kenya daily. - The area is swiftly growing and investors have found it an apt destination for their money. Hundreds of buildings are under construction, others superbly furnished. Commercialists mainly of the Somali ethnic community have enthusiastically dominated the estate in its entirety. However, going round the estate reveals an appalling infrastructure…

It occurred between February 10th-14th 1984. Contrastingly, it is the same date when many celebrate what they call Valentine Day - a day for love and affection. It was a harrowing and tear-jacking tale of the heinous Wagalla Massacre and one of the darkest points in Kenya's history. It captures the insensitivity and brutality of a government against its citizens. It shattered the dreams of many and left them widows and orphans. - In the sunny Friday morning, regular and administration police (AP) as well as the Kenya army bundled men mainly from the Degodia clan of the Somali tribe into army trucks. The aim was apparently to force them identify bandits committing crimes in the district …

Issa Ahmed, a resident of a township located in Wajir of north-eastern Kenya is going through some disquiet. He covers his nostrils with his palm as he dashes out of his home. He murmurs words that one could hardly decipher. The village has not known a contented stay during the day or a blissful sleep at night; and it is all about the pungent smell from a nearby toilet. - A new comer to Wajir town may be appalled by the scary sanitation scenario but to the locals is business as usual. Children chasing ball next to buckets teeming with human waste amazes many. Due to its drenched nature, the waste also provides a suitable breeding ground for mosquitoes that transmits malaria. In Wajir …

Devastated, abandoned, pale, starving and left at the mercy of the scorching sun and have nowhere to call home. Nobody is willing to accommodate them. A section of Wajir district population in north eastern Kenya can only be described as mentally ill. A common saying: "Hadhiis waalantahay Wajeer aad" literally translated as "if you are mad, Wajir is the place to be" seems true. - They suffer from mild to complex mental disorders. But it is no one’s fault. Mental disorders/ illness are a psychological or behavioural pattern associated with distress or disability that occurs in an individual and is not a part of normal development. “By-passing him will make y…

"Poverty is malnourishment. Poverty is homelessness. Poverty is inability to access medical care. Poverty is lack of an informed mind, lack of basic general knowledge and basic literacy skills. Poverty is lack of savings and inaccessibility to credit... living from hand to mouth by the day... merely existing, scraping through life, groping for a meaningful co-existence with others, including nature," a quote from Humanity United Against Poverty-Cultural link Kenya website. - Since Kenya attained independence in 1963, Northern Kenya has arguably remained sidelined and marginalized. The region is generally underdeveloped as compared to the rest of the country. Sixty-four percent of t…

Wajir County is small and arid town which is predominantly inhabited by ethnic Somali community. The community guards its customs jealously and a look at social fabric indicates a virgin social system that has withstood the effects of cultural and social degradation in the 21st Century. - Tucked in the interior of Northern Kenya, Wajir has survived the hustle and bustle of urban life laden with immorality and delinquencies. To the locals remote life has rather kept social evil at bay at least for the time being. During the day, Wajir looks ordinary if not laid back. The scorching sun confines people indoors. The surrounding is dusty and a handful of people are on the gravelly meandering s…

Thousands of people in North Eastern Kenya are staring death in the eye as they face acute shortage of water and food. Leafless shrubs, starving women with malnourished babies tied to their backs greet you under the scorching sun of Kutulo division, about 50kms East of Wajir town in North eastern province (NEP). - Scary scenes of dying livestock and families uncertain where their next meal will come from depict of a community on the verge of a disaster. A visit to the outskirts of Wajir town indicates a scary scenario. Scrawny animals at water points attest to the ravaging famine in NEP. As the situation is going out of hand no humanitarian aid is yet to reach the people. The governme…