Pitching for stronger Kenya-Somalia ties

The Kenyan Defence Force’s intervention in 2011 helped to stop Somalia from slipping from anarchy into the abyss of complete State failure.

Mogadishu is currently experiencing the longest period of sustained peace it has enjoyed in about a decade. The country finally has a permanent government  backed by the majority of the population.

Those seeking to cause terror and inflict harm on others have retreated into the night as the authority of the legitimate government is felt across Somalia.

Peace is important for business and Somalia is flourishing once again. Kenyans should look towards building closer business opportunities with Somali businessmen in the region.

In her book, Getting Somalia Wrong? Faith, War and Hope in a Shattered State, Mary Harper points out that the nation is home to some of the most entrepreneurial people in the world despite the challenges the nation has faced. Years of warfare have ensured that Somalis developed ways to conduct business with minimum central government supervision.

NOTABLE EXAMPLE

One notable example is that Somalia boasts a telecommunications industry that is better than that of other more stable countries in Africa. The roads may be pockmarked, the walls bullet-strewn and a national grid non-existent, but the calls hardly ever stop. Our two nations should cooperate more in the telecommunication and ICT sector, and Kenyan companies should actively seek to invest in Somalia.

Terrorism, meanwhile, is the natural enemy of business and businessmen. The war on terrorism is going to be a long struggle, and for the foreseeable future. There will be bands of smaller, lightly-kitted anarchists, who would attack these two countries and hope the fight degenerates into a regional conflagration.

There should be no distinction between those who engage in terrorism and the governments that harbour them, but we should realise that the government of Somalia is for peace and security.

The criminals who attack us will pretend to speak for a whole religion, a whole nation and a whole civilisation; they will try to posture, make themselves seem bigger than they are and try to drag a whole community into their sordid struggles. We should treat them as individuals.

Lashing out at a whole community because of the actions of a few is acting out on the basis of inadequate information. It is ineffective and will be counterproductive.

The small Somali middle class is Kenya’s greatest ally in the war against terrorism. Somali businessmen in Kenya and in Somalia have the most to lose from a deterioration of peace in Somalia. The green shoots of a rising middle class should not be crushed underneath the jackboot of militarism, which paints the entire community in bad light.

Kenya should not risk alienating what should be its first defence against terrorism. Kenyan and Somali businessmen should join up to forge stronger bonds between the two nations.