After Mandera had dispatched at least 10 battle-experienced elders to negotiate with Alshabaab Jihadists in the War-torn Somalia, Kenyans are waiting for the outcome with baited breath.
This happened only two days after two Cuban doctors were abducted in an ugly incident that saw a policeman guarding them gunned down.
While police held the doctors’ driver immediately after the abduction, not much has been gotten from his interrogation, sources say.
Sensing the need for urgent remedy, Mandera elders held a meeting and came to the conclusion that a team of resilient negotiators be dispatched into the volatile Somalia.
The elders left Kenya Saturday evening to plead with the militants into setting free the Cuban doctors Herrera Correa and Landhi Rodriguez.
This happened only hours after Police Spokesman Charles Owino ruled out the possibility of paying the terrorists money to secure the release of the abducted Cuban doctors.
“We would not encourage payment of ransom to criminals as a matter of procedure because that would encourage kidnappings. We’ll use methods provided for in law while carrying out our duties,” he told a news conference.
Owino said the government would still continue with its multi-agency rescue attempts even as the elders negotiate the release of the two foreigners.
If there are any negotiations to release the doctors then so be it. Our major interest is to have the doctors back and we will continue to do our work to ensure that happens,” Owino said.
The Governments of Kenya and Cuba had secured channels to address the challenge. Similarly, they agreed to keep the families of the affected doctors posted on new developments.
The doctors are part of a team of 100 Cuban doctors spread across the 47 counties of Kenya.
