A group of Kenyan youth has accused a Member of Parliament for inciting remarks he allegedly made during the inauguration of Somalia’s Puntland president in January.
They claim the Member of Parliament for Dadaab Farah Maalim uttered words capable of inciting youth against Ethiopians living in Somalia where he said he is ready to mobilize Kenyan youth to wage war against them.
Led by their chairman Ismael Abdi, the Patriotic Youth of Kenya said the era of mobilizing youth to cause chaos in and outside Kenya is no longer tenable, asking MP Farah Maalim (pictured) to stick to his role as a Member of Parliament of Kenya.
“The Honourable Farah Maalim, a public figure, an employee of the Government of Kenya, stated that he is ready and willing to mobilize youth from Garissa to go to Somalia and fight Ethiopians. As patriotic youth of this nation, we are embarrassed and angered by Farah Maalim’s remarks. Such statements make us feel insecure and, to a greater extent, view him not as a responsible statesman but as an agent provocateur who is wielding incitement as a tool and appearing to function as a recruitment agent for militia groups,” Patriotic Youth of Kenya chairman Ismael Abdi told the media in Nairobi today.
The youth group claimed the utterances of the Member of Parliament diminish the principles of diplomacy, decorum and responsible governance that Kenya is known for.
“While the youth are vulnerable and considered manipulable pawns for chaos and serving certain people personal interests, we categorically reject such characterizations as portrayed by Maalim. We believe in peaceful conflict resolution in case of disagreements whether between individuals or states,” added Ismael Abdi.
The youth group demanded that the Member of Parliament apologizes to the youth of Kenya, Ethiopia, Somaliland and Somalia for making such inciteful and undiplomatic statements, giving him 24 hours to do so.
They also demanded to know from the said MP whether he made the remarks on behalf of the Kenyan government or on his own volition.
By Fredrick Azelwa.