Patriots or Terrorists? Somalis Are Old Scapegoats For New Insecurity BY SALAH ABDI SHEIKH. The question is, are we patriots or terrorists? There is absolutely no answer for such a question. The “we” in the question is meaningless, there are no “we” because there is no group action for which the Somalis of Kenya are responsible. There is no conspiracy, there is no collusion, there is no understanding between members of this community on which position to take. There are as many diverse opinions and interests as there are in any community. Collective responsibility of a whole community for the actions of a few is a fallacy of fact. Normally few members of any community are criminals and fewer are outstanding heroes or patriots, the rest are just like the bewildered herd with no idea about anything. Somalis are no different; there are a few stars in government, politics, humanitarian agencies and business. The bulk of the members of the Somali community living in Kenya are poor, illiterate and very much unable to get concerned beyond the daily rut they find themselves in. Somalis of Kenya have suffered triple jeopardy since independence; they are nomadic pastoralists stuck in the medieval times, they are Muslims and now associated with extremist ideas and tendencies and they are Africans suffering from the same ineptitude of their leaders like every person in Africa. Kenya has a Somali problem that began with the British annexation of Northern Kenya. The British created convenience maps across cultural and ethnic landscapes in Africa with no regard to the viability of the resulting states. The Somali problem is an African problem. The identity of a person is typified by the existence of another country where one’s ethnic origins lie separate from the de facto citizenship where one had been forced to claim domicile. Many African tribes are trapped in borders that absolutely make no sense in the creation of feasible states. The Southern Sudan has demonstrated that a dogged determination for independence may actually work. The Oromo and the Somalis of Ethiopia have been at it for eons now. Somalis in Kenya tried separatism for a while but it didn’t work; they were disadvantaged because of illiteracy, clan interest and the topography of the land. Besides, it made more sense to have access to infrastructure and fertile land than to be confined to a desert. Once the separatism was over, Somalis became Kenya’s scapegoat for all kinds of ills resulting in genocide on many occasions; Garissa, Wagalla and Malka Mari massacres. At one point in the 1989/1990 Kenya deported over 25% of its Somali population to Ethiopia, Somalia, Tanzania and Uganda. Even some officials of the ruling party KANU members were deported. As scapegoat, every new security problem is blamed on Somalis; Separatism, Banditry, Poaching, Piracy and now Terrorism. To paraphrase, Kenneth Kaunda, “Somalis in Kenya have the unfortunate luck of being born with a wooden spoon in their mouths”. Kenya as a country has not really courted the patriotism of its Somali citizen. The brief separatist war of 1967 has been used as an excuse to divide up and militarize the Northern Frontier. The people of that region were projected as unpatriotic lot without being heard. The idea that somehow poaching, banditry and past rebellion were the preserve of the Somali was falsely perpetuated by the provincial administration and security agencies. Today there is risk of the same warped thinking perpetuating the same flawed and disastrous policies of the yesteryears empowered by foreign money and equipment. The emergence of war on terror in Kenya mimics like the days of KANU youths, where the state created networks of spies and enforcers in red shirts. Today, spousal conflict may land one in the hands of the ATPU. A soft-haired man taking photographs is a potential suspect and travel ling for Muslim men less than 40 years of age is becoming a nightmare. People are being assassinated or disappeared for mere suspicion of engaging in terrorism that cannot be confirmed by any court. In this era, “war on terror” trumps all other wars; it trumps the war against disease, corruption, aids, underdevelopment and hunger. “The war on terror” seems to blind today’s leaders to prudent decisions. The “war on terror” focuses on Muslim communities, places enormous pressure on them even when any association with terrorism is remote. This is what is happening in Kenya. A few years back, terrorism was an alien concept in Northern Kenya and the Coast, today, terrorism is an everyday occurrence. How much of this terrorism is actually as a result of the so called “war on terror”? When Kenya invaded Somalia with the excuse of routing out Al- Shabaab many Somali intellectuals were dismayed. Somalia has been at war for over two decades. The Somali conflict has defied any form of intervention because the players have been shifting goal posts. It started as a revolution against a vicious dictator, it mutated into a clan conflict, it turned itself to organized crime by warlords, it then spawned piracy and religious militarism and today has two dangerous offshoots, clan fiefdoms and religious fanatism. Even if religious inspired insurgency disappears from Somalia, the seed for the next conflict has already been sown thanks to Kenya. The invasion by the gallant KDF may have forced out Al-Shabaab from Kismanyu but it has installed a clan fiefdom whose deference to the weak AMISOM-backed government is at best strained. Military solution to Somalia’s conflict was tried by Ethiopia, United States and AMISOM but the battle still rages on. What has changed lately that convinces Kenya leaders that they have the magic wand to quell the Somali war? Did Kenya’s intervention in Somalia actually invite their conflict into Kenya? Kenya’s intervention in Somalia was ill-advised, it was a strategic blunder and it is still a chivalrous decision but with no victory in sight. It has placed extreme burden on the Muslim community in general and Somali community in particular who have become yet another scapegoat for new form of insecurity. The challenge for Kenyan leaders is to be bold enough to disengage the country out of Somalia’s mess. Kenya is a tiny African country with poor people, weak economy and poor infrastructure. Kenya cannot transform itself into frontline state for “war on terror”; it will destroy the little progress this country has amassed over decades. An alternative mechanism to guarantee Kenya’s security is to police the borders. The Somali community in Kenya is these days holding its breath. Eastleigh seems to be under unofficial curfew. Most people stay indoors after dark. Hotels and restaurants are complaining that people are not eating out anymore. Nobody is making any long-term investments and most are considering relocation to a friendlier business environment. Those who cannot have the luxury of relocation are building their plots up North lest they be caught in a xenophobic frenzy next time another terror comes calling. - See more at:
Posted on: Thu, 03 Apr 2014 07:40:04 +0000
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