Our military has no business in Somalia

The proceedings and outcome of the National Defence and Security Council meeting chaired by President Kibaki on Wednesday must, of necessity, remain secret.

Issues to do with national security cannot be expected to be shouted from the rooftops, and so we have to go with the bland communiqué delivered by Internal Security minister George Saitoti — that Kenya has no intention of sending troops to Somalia.

But the urgency with which the meeting was summoned belied the minister’s reiteration that Kenya doesn’t interfere in internal affairs of other nations.

What is clear right now is that this country faces one of the greatest security threats since the Shifta war of the 1960s. We face threats from a militia, Al-Shabaab, which is suspected to have links with the notorious international terror group, al Qaeda, and which is about to overrun the popularly elected, but spineless government of Somalia.

What happens in Somalia is bound to affect us one way or the other. We share a long, porous border, and we lean towards the Transitional Federal Government, whose policies are attuned to our own.

But that is as far as our relations should go. There is no doubt that the Somali government requires urgent help in the form of money and material. There is no doubt that if the international community does not rush to its aid, it will fall.

That is what the transitional government is pleading for — urgent military assistance. It should, and must, receive that assistance if it is to survive.

But it is also our strong conviction that Kenya should not send men to fight, and die, in Somalia. This is not dictated by cowardice, but by dispassionate self-interest. Not only is our common border insecure; we also share a high proportion of indigenous Somalis who live in the districts bordering Somalia.

It would be impossible to police adequately movement between the two countries, making us vulnerable to infiltration by suicide bombers and the like. Should we be hot-headed enough to send our troops across, we may continue paying the price for a long time — even if Al-Shabaab are finally routed.