Kenyans Urge Leader To Save Their Country From Becoming Like Nigeria - Terrorism - dhabworld

A day after the Somali Islamist group al-Shabab killed 36 quarry workers in Kenya's north-eastern region of Mandera, the media is urging the Kenyan government to review its security policies.

Two newspapers warn that Kenya faces a "serious Boko-Haram type problem", while another calls for the army's withdrawal from Somalia.

The media are still conveying shock and outrage about the killings, with many front pages showing pictures of the dead men laying face down on the ground, and blood pouring from their heads.

"Kenya has a serious Boko-Haram type problem in the making," says an editorial in the top-selling, influential Daily Nation.

It suggests that the Kenyan government has fundamentally misunderstood today's al-Shabab, arguing that "the presumption that this is a foreign invading force is no longer sustainable. Al-Shabab has morphed into a local, jihadist insurrection led principally by Kenyans born and bred in the places now under attack".

Over the past months, many Kenyans have demanded that the country withdraw its troops from Somalia. Some Kenyan papers agree. Al-Shabab has repeatedly said that Kenya's involvement in Somalia is the main reason for its attacks.

The Star newspaper, which often takes a bold editorial stand, suggests that the army should be redeployed throughout north-eastern Kenya to secure the border. "Security and intelligence systems must be restored to functional and efficient levels before the country slides into a Nigeria Boko-Haram-like mess," the paper says

"Businesses, especially in the tourism sector, are suffering and we must not allow multi-billion shilling investments to go to waste simply because we cannot get our act right in improving security," the Business Daily says.

Commentator Jaindi Kisero, writing in the Daily Nation, urges Kenya's leadership "to engage in national introspection. If we do not restore peace in northern Kenya quickly, then all those clever economic blueprints we have been churning out will be worthless".

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-30309226