Is the lack of a security strategy a ploy to benefit certain business interests?

Bullet holes on a Makka Travel bus that was attacked by Al-Shabaab militants on November 22, 2014 in Mandera. The attackers killed 28 passengers. PHOTO | JEFF ANGOTE | NATION MEDIA GROUP  

In Summary

• A regional intelligence source has also alleged that some members of Kenya’s political elite may be benefiting from the smuggling of other goods, such as sugar, from Somalia and, therefore, prefer our borders to remain porous and insecure.
• The source told Canadian journalist Jay Bahadur: “The more charcoal exported from Kismayu, the more sugar comes into Kenya, the more the border policy in Kenya is distorted, the more the smuggling of other things takes place, and the more dangerous Kenya becomes.”
• International security analysts are stumped by what appears to be the lack of a national security strategy in Kenya. So far, the government’s strategy to contain terrorism seems to be based on a counter-productive “scorched earth” policy where innocent civilians are collectively punished for the sins of their cousins.

By RASNA WARAH
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It is no secret that smugglers, human traffickers, and terrorists have been using ports in Somalia and Kenyan border towns to bring illicit goods and undocumented visitors into the country.

These goods are allowed to enter Kenya by corrupt police officers and administrators, who may even be letting in Al-Shabaab fighters.

Mandera is on the border with Somalia. One would expect that, given that Kenya has boots in Somalia, this town would be heavily guarded and monitored.

But as the events of last week have shown, Mandera was not being properly policed or monitored. What is worse, intelligence reports and warnings by Mandera Governor Ali Roba, of an imminent terrorist attack were ignored.

Could it be because business interests are overriding security concerns in the area? Stories of the illegal sale of charcoal from Kismayu by Kenyan forces, in spite of a UN ban, have been making rounds, not just in Somalia, but also within the international community.

A regional intelligence source has also alleged that some members of Kenya’s political elite may be benefiting from the smuggling of other goods, such as sugar, from Somalia and, therefore, prefer our borders to remain porous and insecure.

The source told Canadian journalist Jay Bahadur: “The more charcoal exported from Kismayu, the more sugar comes into Kenya, the more the border policy in Kenya is distorted, the more the smuggling of other things takes place, and the more dangerous Kenya becomes.”

International security analysts are stumped by what appears to be the lack of a national security strategy in Kenya. So far, the government’s strategy to contain terrorism seems to be based on a counter-productive “scorched earth” policy where innocent civilians are collectively punished for the sins of their cousins.

HOUSES BURNT

This happened in Pokot, where houses were burnt and looted by security forces, and in Eastleigh, during Operation Usalama Watch, when ethnic Somalis were rounded up and detained, and then had to bribe their way out of detention centres.

Instead of co-opting residents into the country’s intelligence-gathering network, these operations ended up alienating communities that might have otherwise been willing to cooperate with security agencies.

Such “collective punishments” have also alienated coastal Muslims, who view the extra-judicial killings of radical Muslim clerics and the raids on mosques as a precursor to systematic discrimination and elimination of Muslims by a violent State.

The Kenyan Government and security forces have not learnt anything from history. When Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi ordered a military raid on the sacred Golden Temple in Amritsar, which was harbouring militant Sikhs intent on creating a separate state called Khalistan, all sections of Sikh society, even those that did not agree with the separatists, turned against her. Mrs Gandhi paid for her ill-advised actions with her life — her own Sikh bodyguard assassinated her.

The Kenyan Government also appears to be following in the footsteps of the United States, whose disastrous “war on terror” has led to the current chaos in Iraq.

The murderous Islamic State is the direct result of misguided US military intervention in Iraq in 2003, which fragmented the country and led to religious militancy. Having “liberated” Kismayu from Al-Shabaab, the best thing Kenya can do now is exit Somalia.

*****

I watched with horror as the President blamed parents for the rape of their children at the launch of a campaign to end violence against women and girls, which aims to reverse this “blame-the-victim” mentality.

But then, what else can we expect from a president who painted himself — not the 1,300 killed or the 600,000 displaced — as the biggest victim of the 2007/2008 post-election violence? As lecturer Wandia Njoya poignantly stated in her blog last week, “Ever since Kenyans found a way to rationalise that suspects of crimes against humanity were acceptable presidential candidates... we declared that Kenyan life is not valuable.”

Since the 2013 elections, Kenyans have witnessed unprecedented violence inflicted, not just by terrorists, but by the State and ordinary Kenyans, who now find it acceptable to strip and beat up a woman for the way she is dressed.

rasna.warah@gmail.com