Fear of revenge attacks in Kenya over piracy

• Islamists say Kenya has duped Somalia to cede part of its territory in MoU

The trail of more than 20 suspected pirates arrested by Nato and European Union forces patrolling the Gulf of Aden and the frequent incursions by suspected al-Shabaab militants are raising concern within the Kenyan security agencies.

There is fear that the Mogadishu-based insurgents, who are believed by security operatives to have accomplices in Somalia, might help to coordinate retaliation against Kenya.

The Kenya government has been at pains to practise its non-alignment foreign policy, especially with no lines of communication with Somalia — a nation that has borne the brunt of warlords and factional fighting for nearly 18 years.

Ethiopian intelligence operatives monitoring Somalia have recommended the invasion of the country and withdrawal. The Kenyan provincial administration and security officials are forced to rely on unpredictable and sometimes ineffective local religious leaders to mediate and resolve issues.

However, a Foreign Affairs ministry official said the Horn of Africa division, headed by a Mr Maikara, has been monitoring activities in the war-torn country over a long period.

Somalia issues

“We have a facilitator, Mr Kipruto arap Kirwa, appointed by President Kibaki as Kenya’s special representative for Somalia at the African Union. The Horn of Africa division in the ministry of Foreign Affairs that handles Somalia issues, is very active.”

But the Somalia issue is a complicated affair owing to its long standing historical problems. Kenya has to do everything to ensure that there are administrative structures in Somalia because what goes on there directly affects Kenya.

“Issues of piracy and al-Shabaab have drawn a lot of international attention,” said an official who spoke to the Sunday Nation on condition of anonymity because he is not authorised to speak to journalists.

He said Kenya has been in the forefront in rallying the international community to pressurise warring parties in Somalia to work together.

The signing last week of a memorandum of understanding between Kenyan Foreign Affairs minister Moses Wetang’ula and the Somalia minister for Planning, Mr Abdirahman Warsame, is already causing ripples in Mogadishu, with Islamists, the opposition and the media claiming that the Somalia government has been duped into ceding part of its territory to Kenya.

In the MoU, the two countries commit themselves to reviewing maritime boundaries under the 1982 UN Convention on Law of the Sea.

So strained have the relations between Kenya and Somalia been that Mr Wetang’ula at one time threatened to ban the then Somalia transitional federal government president, Mr Abdullahi Yusuf, from entering Kenya for what he termed his lack of cooperation to bring order in his country. The Kenyan ambassador to Somalia works from Nairobi.

The northwest frontier, the current North Eastern Province, has been Kenya’s problem since the colonial days when there was an attempt to secede. But the holding of 42 suspected pirates in Kenya, including 10 serving a seven-year jail sentence each at Shimo la Tewa prison in Mombasa and 32 others are facing trial, is likely to put Kenya at a greater security risk.

Al-Shabaab has warned Kenya of dire consequences if it cooperates with the international community in the war on terrorism or piracy. Both local and international intelligence and security agencies fear that the proceeds of piracy are being laundered in Kenya.