This is in response to Raila’s tweet in which the opposition leader accused the Jubilee administration of betraying the Somali and Muslim community in Kenya by treating them as suspects and criminals in the name of fighting terrorism.
The CS castigated Raila for alleging that the brave men and women serving in security forces are part of a campaign to criminalise the Muslim community.
"To label their efforts as Raila did is to take the same position as al Shabaab, al Qaeda and other terrorist groups," Nkaissery said in a statement on Friday.
Nkaissery pointed out that the fight against Al Shabaab and their supporters did not belong to any political party but was a national calling.
“It is a pity that Odinga is willing to overlook his own knowledge and even our national security for the sake of short-term political interests, I urge him to rethink this approach, to stand with other Kenyans against terrorism and terrorists, and to cease the irresponsible and divisive statements such as those he made in Garissa,” he said.
He added that the Jubilee administration has fought terrorist groups with determination, principle and legality.
"We have also initiated strategies and initiatives such as preventive and counter radicalisation efforts, that are leading the continent and many parts of the world,” he said.
The retired general argued that the government was actually working closely with the muslim community and as a result terror attacks have sharply reduced because the vast majority of Muslims and Somalis had provided information that was key in detecting and disrupting plots from the terrorist groups.
Human rights groups and prominent Muslim leaders have however in the recent past accused the government of targeting Muslims.
A preliminary report by the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights that was leaked to the local press in September, 2016 expressed concern that the government’s ongoing crackdown on terrorism was disproportionately targeting ethnic Somalis and Muslims in the coastal region.
The preliminary report documented 25 extrajudicial killings and 81 enforced disappearances, and detailed cases of torture and forced interrogation, arbitrary arrest, and detention without trial.
There are approximately 349,000 Somali refugees and asylum seekers in the Dadaab refugee camps, most of whom are Muslims according to the United States bureau of democracy, human rights, and labor.
The government has severally claimed that the camp was harboring terrorist and was actually due to close it before the high court quashed the directive.
Eyewitness? Submit your stories now via social or:
Email: news@pulselive.co.ke