Sh341m for families of El-Adde attack soldiers

Soldiers pay last respects to a fallen colleague in Nanyuki in February. PHOTO | FILE 

By NEVILLE OTUKI, notuki@ke.nationmedia.com

Families of soldiers killed by Al Shabaab militants in Somalia in January will receive Sh341.27 million from Jubilee Insurance as compensation.

The insurer is the cover provider for the Kenya Defence Forces personnel.

Al-Shabaab militants in January ambushed and overran a Kenyan army base in the Somalia town of El-Adde killing undisclosed soldiers.

Somalia’s President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud gave the death toll of 180, prompting an angry response from Kenya.

Kenya’s army said the number was untrue, but again refused to give its own casualty figures.

Defence secretary Raychelle Omamo said that the payout would help to keep the families of the departed soldiers afloat.

“Jubilee Insurance through this payment is a firm confirmation that the company truly enables people to overcome uncertainty. You have played a crucial role in the continuation and sustenance of the families of the Kenya Defence Forces,” she said during a session to receive the cheque.
The insurer’s personal accident policy covers KDF soldiers for accidental death or disablement.

“We understand the pain and confusion that comes with the sudden loss of a loved one and nothing can help bring them back and fill that vacuum. However, monetary compensation does provide some consolation to the family members in their hour of need,” said Jubilee Group chairman Nizar Juma.

READ: Al Shabaab attack African Union base in Somalia

The El-Ade attack was reported to be Al-Shabab’s deadliest assault since it was formed nearly a decade ago.

Its previous most deadly attack was the killing of 148 people in the day-long assault on Garissa University College in north-eastern Kenya last April.

After the attack, Kenya said the bombs used by Al-Shabab were three times more powerful than those used by al-Qaeda in the 1998 US embassy attack in the capital, Nairobi, which left 224 people dead.

Kenya has about 4,000 troops in the 22,000-strong African Union force battling Al-Shabaab, which is part of al-Qaeda, in Somalia.

Kenya, along with several other African states, has sent troops to Somalia to help the Mogadishu-based government fight Al-Shabab, Islamist rebels with ties to Al-Qaeda.

But links between the two countries have been testy in recent years.

Somalia and Kenya dispute the location of their maritime boundary line in the Indian Ocean, and Kenya has sold oil and gas-drilling rights to foreign companies in the disputed zone. Somalia has also protested Kenya’s plan to build a 700-km wall along their border.