Frendlier times: Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta with Somali
traditional dancers at the Aden Abdulle Airport in Mogadishu in 2016,
when he attended an Igad special summit. PHOTO | FILE | NATION MEDIA
GROUP
Varying interests and pressure from outsiders are continually
pushing Kenya and Somalia apart, with the two neighbours increasingly
taking divergent positions on crucial issues such as regional security
and diplomacy.
Experts warn that this
trend risks the resurgence of terrorism as the divisions could embolden
the Somalia-based militants, Al Shabaab.
The
differences have lately manifested in the discussions around UN
sanctions against Al Shabaab, Kenya’s candidacy for a seat at the UN
Security Council and the conduct of Kenya’s military inside Somalia.
AL SHABAAB
Last
week, it became clear that President Mohamed Farmaajo’s government may
no longer be keen on working with Kenya, after Mogadishu fronted a
spirited fight to block Kenya’s bid to tighten sanctions on Al Shabaab.
Somalia,
supported by Kuwait, Poland and Belgium (the trio who are members of a
UN committee on sanctions on Somalia) blocked the proposal that would
have blocked humanitarian aid to areas controlled by the Shabaab in
Somalia.
It seems ideal that Al Shabaab, who have in
the past launched deadly attacks in Uganda, Kenya and Somalia, be placed
on the same list as other terror groups Al Qaeda, ISIS and their
affiliates.
Kenya argued that placing
Al Shabaab under a UN Resolution 1267 could influence a coalition of
countries similar to the one against ISIS, limiting the group’s
expansion. It could also cut off its sources of revenue by denying them a
chance to tax or divert humanitarian aid such as food and medicine.
In the wake of the defeat at the UN, Nairobi said it won’t relent in its fight against the group.
“That
we have failed to get one additional sanction regime will not deter us
from remaining focused on our goal which is to eliminate terror in our
country and in the world at large. God willing,” Macharia Kamau, the
Kenyan Foreign Affairs Principal Secretary told The EastAfrican.
“Kenya will of course continue to fight the terrorist organisation and
any other international terrorist entity using all means necessary and
available to it, including the currently existing sanction regimes that
we have fought for previously and that are in force within the UNSC
counter terrorism regime.”
Yet Somalia, which has lately been the recipient of intensifies Al Shabaab attacks rushed to block sanctions against the group.
SANCTIONS
In
2014, when Kenya first fronted the proposal to the UNSC, Somalia and
Djibouti were among the countries that supported the idea. But the UK
blocked it, citing Kenya’s covert bid to disentangle from the then
Somalia/Eritrea sanctions regime.
When the vote came up this week, Germany and the US opposed it as well, in the wake of lobbying by humanitarian agencies.
So why would Somalia oppose sanctions against a group that targets and kills its civilians every day?
Abukar
Dahir Osman, Somalia’s Permanent Representative to the UN, laid the
blame on Kenya, citing Nairobi’s alleged refusal to co-operate in
implementing existing sanctions.
“[We]
urge [the] Kenyan government to implement existing Security Council
Resolution 751 targeting Al Shabaab, including the ban on illegal
charcoal trade in Somalia, which is the lifeline of the group to finance
its operations in the region,” he twitted Wednesday night.
Resolution
751 was passed in the wake of the Shabaab’s alleged thriving charcoal
export trade using the port of Kismayu in Jubbaland. In September 2012,
Kenyan forces with the local moderate Ras Kamboni Brigade led by Sheikh
Ahmed Islam Madobe defeated Al Shabaab and drove them out of Kismayu.
But
a UN Monitoring Group on Somalia/Eritrea sanctions claimed four times
that Kenyan forces were involved in the illegal charcoal export trade as
well, allowing Al Shabaab to profit from the illegal business. In all
occasions, Kenya denied the accusations.
On
Thursday night, President Farmaajo went a step further and banned
direct flights to Kismayu in what could target Kenyan forces who man
Jubbaland’s main airport.
ACCUSATIONS
In
a Notice to Airmen (Notam), the Somali Federal Civil Aviation Authority
(SCAA) said all flights to and from Kismayu must stop-over in
Mogadishu. Without a guarantee of permission to proceed, the move could
essentially curtail business of KDF. It wasn’t clear, initially, whether
the notice only applied to civilian aircraft, but some of Somalia’s air
navigation services are still offered from Nairobi, after a relocation
programme in 2016 failed due to a shortage of personnel.
“This
targeted Kenya and it may well be intended to slow down Kenya’s
supplies and logistical support to its Amisom camps both in Dhobley and
Kismayu,” Idd Bedel Mohammed, a former Somali diplomat told The EastAfrican.
“It is targeting Jubbaland, in the wake of defiance but it is
discriminatory and may backfire if local clans feel they are being
targeted.”
Under
Amisom Concept of Operations (Conops), troops are allowed free movement
and deployment to areas they are charged with. Kenya is in Sector II
and VI, manning Kismayu and Dhobley regions of Jubbaland.
But
Mogadishu had another axe to grind against Kenya. Last week, the main
telcom company Hormud claimed its infrastructure, and personnel had been
harmed by the KDF. Later, Somali Posts, Telecommunications and
Technology Minister Abdi Anshur Hassan said Kenyan forces had damaged
the facilities at Hormud headquarters in Dawn. Kenya hadn’t responded to
the accusations by the time we went to press.
Experts
think the charcoal export claims were, however, a scapegoat for Somalia
to express its displeasure with Kenya. Abdirizak Mohamed, a current
federal member of parliament and former Security Minister said the
Shabaab have been collecting revenue even in areas not under the Kenyan
forces.
Citing a recent VoA report, Mr Mohamed said “the depth of revenue generation by Al Shabaab is inconceivable.”
“They
have been collecting taxes from Mogadishu port, land and property sales
tax and collecting taxes from Bakaraha market in Mogadishu,” he
claimed, citing Mogadishu’s popular shopping centre.
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DIVERGENCE?
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