Tucked away as an appendix to Volume 2C
of the Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission’s final report lies a
politically pertinent document.
Namely, a leaked copy
of the 2008 report of the Presidential Special Action Committee to
Address Specific Concerns of the Muslim Community in Regard to Alleged
Harassment and/or Discrimination in the Application/Enforcement of the
Law.
This committee – let’s call it the Sharawe
Committee for short after its chairman A.M. H. Sharawe – was established
by President Kibaki in October 2007. It was mandated to “look into and
address specific concerns raised by the Muslim community with regard to
[their] alleged harassment and/or discrimination in the process of the
application of the law particularly as regards to security issues”.
The
committee held public hearings in one urban centre in each of the
country’s eight provinces; reviewed written memoranda and secondary
literature; and consulted public officers, local leaders, and Muslim and
human rights organisations.
Like the TJRC, the
Sharawe committee suffered from a credibility crisis, and members
recognised it was viewed with suspicion as “a stop-gap measure to
appease the Muslim community and woo their votes for the then incumbent
administration” in the run-up to the 2007 elections.
Still,
the committee’s findings are highly critical of the Jomo Kenyatta,
Daniel arap Moi, and Kibaki regimes. Its conclusions range from serious
abuses suffered by Muslims during state security operations and
discriminatory practices in the issuance of national ID cards and
passports to problems of regional underdevelopment, the propagation of
negative stereotypes in the country’s media, and shortage of Islamic
religious education teachers.
Indeed, the committee
“found substance in most of the complaints raised by the Muslim
community”, and recommended “that the Government urgently address the
issues in order to restore public confidence, [and] fully integrate the
Muslim community in the mainstream development so as to build national
cohesion”.
The committee went on to make specific
recommendations on citizenship and registration of persons, security,
lands, education, representation and participation, and development and
investment.
It submitted its final report in March
2008, but Kibaki never released it, and the findings were never publicly
discussed or implemented. Consequently, the report only entered the
public domain after it was leaked to TJRC staff and they decided to
publish it as an appendix to their own report.
Given
the strong narratives of marginalisation and exclusion among many of
Kenya’s Muslim communities, and the fact that these grievances are
feeding into the radicalisation of a minority, it seems timely to look
at the Sharawe Report and pose a number of questions.
Do
people agree that Kenya’s Muslims have suffered harassment and
discrimination? Have some of the injustices cited been addressed, for
example, by the new Constitution and devolution? Have some of them got
worse, or have new injustices been added?
Can this
history and ongoing experiences of harassment and discrimination help
explain, at least in part, the radicalisation of some Kenyan Muslims?
And, if so, what can be done to ensure that a sense of marginalisation
is not exacerbated, whilst the government simultaneously gathers
intelligence and provides security?
Should some of the
Committee’s recommendations be implemented? For example, how relevant
are recommendations that, “security forces should not target communities
for investigations or arrest on the basis [of] religion, ethnicity,
race, and origin”; “searches by the security forces should be conducted
with due regard to human rights”; and that “Government should develop a
Marshal Plan with adequate budgetary provision for predominately Muslim
areas to address the historical marginalisation and under-development”?
These
are big questions that require thoughtful discussion. Nevertheless, the
Sharawe Report can make a small contribution in helping Kenyans
understand the current strength of narratives of injustice and
marginalisation that have long characterised local politics.
In
turn, it seems critical that – rather than politicise the tragic events
of the past week – the government do more to win hearts and minds by
giving due attention to a documented history of harassment and
discrimination.
And that such efforts be complemented
by an approach to security and intelligence that helps foster a sense of
inclusion among all Kenyans, rather than the ongoing security
operations that are in danger of further alienating sections of Kenya’s
Muslim communities.
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