Mwai Kibaki: Kenya's president who deployed KDF in Somalia

Former Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki in Nairobi, Febuary 28, 2008. ) JEROME DELAY / AP

NAIROBI, Kenya - On Friday, the sunset for Mwai Kibaki, the soft-spoken former president of Kenya, who perhaps remains one of the longest-serving political leaders in the history of the East Africa nation, owing to his vast experience in the game.

Kibaki, 91, served Kenya in different capacities after completing his Economics Degree from Makerere University in Uganda, joining politics at the time Kenya got independence in 1963. He first served as an assistant minister.

So smooth was the political career of Kibaki that he would be appointed as Vice President in 1978 following the demise of founding father Jomo Kenyatta. He served Daniel Moi as VP for a decade before the two fell out in 1989.

In opposition, Kibaki contested in 1992 and 1997 elections without success only to clinch the seat in 2002. As president, Kibaki was credited for resuscitation of Kenya's ailing economy and is perhaps regarded as one of the greatest presidents to have served Kenya.

But one of the challenging moments besides the 2007 Post Election Violence is the deployment of troops to neighboring Somalia, becoming the first president to sanction Kenya Defense Forces [KDF] to fight in a foreign land in pursuit of Al-Shabaab militants.

Dubbed Operation Linda Nchi, Kibaki authorized KDF to "follow and fight Al-Shabaab in their own backyard" even as Somalia struggled to contain the militants who in 2011, were controlling huge swathes of rural central and southern Somalia.

A year later, KDF, which controls Sectors II and VI of ATMIS, managed to seize Kismayo, the regional administrative capital of Jubaland. Operation Sledge Hammer is perhaps regarded as one of the greatest achievements of the KDF in Somalia.

The KDF troop number in Somalia is estimated to be around 3,500. Although Al-Shabaab may have not been defeated completely, the decision by Kibaki to boldly defend Somalia is one of the greatest moments of a neighbor helping a fragile nation.

Later this year, ATMIS is expected to scale down troops in Somalia before fully entrusting Somali National Army [SNA] with security responsibilities. It's anticipated that ATMIS troops will serve Somalia in the next 33 months before exiting from the Horn of Africa nation.

Prime Minister Mohamed Hussein Roble, on behalf of the troubled Federal Government of Somalia, sent condolences to Kenya and the family of the late president, whose Contributions to Somalia through the deployment of KDF are remembered within security circles.

"I have received with an immense sense of sadness of the passing on of Kenya’s immediate former President, H.E Mwai Kibaki. On behalf of my government people, I’d like to send an earnest message of condolence to President Kenyatta and the people of Kenya at this moment of sorrow and hardship," he said.

"Saddened by the news of the passing of H.E. Hon. Mwai Kibaki, the third President of the Republic of Kenya. My deepest condolences to family, friends, citizens, and the Government of Kenya in these testing times," added Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, who served as president when KDF was deployed.

Kibaki will be accorded a state funeral and his body is expected to lie in state until the burial. President Uhuru Kenyatta, who retires this August, announced the death on Friday, declaring a mourning state within the next couple of days.

“In testimony of the highest of esteem in which all Kenyans hold the person and the memory of President Mwai Kibaki, the nation will observe a period of national mourning from today until sunset of the day of his interment,” said President Kenyatta.

Mr. Kibaki’s interment will be Kenya’s seventh state funeral, but he is the third to have full military honors. The only other two people to be accorded such elaborate funerals are the founding President Jomo Kenyatta in 1978 and his successor Daniel Moi in February 2020.

GAROWE ONLINE