We must find a way to fight Al-Shabaab more efficiently

Communication masts destroyed in Arabia, Mandera, on February 2, 2017 by Al-Shabaab terrorists. If everything given to Somalia ends up in the hands of Al-Shabaab, shouldn’t the giving be stopped? PHOTO | MANASE OTSIALO | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • As always, when we are dealing with these issues, we must be careful not to demoralise our folks who are fighting in those parts.
  • Sending our Chinese-made APCs and our brave boys across the border is all very well, but it is not enough to win us the peace.

This is no longer war, this is madharau; this is kutuzoea.

Yesterday, Al-Shabaab fighters attacked a place called Arabia in Mandera and stole weapons from an Administration Police armoury, drove off in a police Land Cruiser and also took away a BVR kit.

As someone asked, are they having an election?

A week ago, they attacked a Kenya Defence Forces camp at Kulbiyow, Somalia, and killed an unknown, but reportedly high, number of our soldiers.

As always, when we are dealing with these issues, we must be careful not to demoralise our folks who are fighting in those parts.

If you add up the number of our men who have been harmed by that lot, I think it comes to quite a number.

The number of widows weeping for lost love, the families who no longer have breadwinners, the children who are fatherless and our poor country which has been robbed of the services of its young men and women, it’s too much to bear.

The frequency with which Al-Shabaab is inflicting damage on us is now becoming personal.

There are many armies in Somalia: There is the Somali National Army, various militia, Ethiopians, Burundians, some West African army, which I forget but which landed in Mombasa without trucks proposing to walk to Kismayu (or so I heard), Ugandans, I mean Al-Shabaab are spoilt for armies to take on and fight. But do they do that? No. They hunt for Kenyans because they want to humiliate us.

FUNDING AL-SHABAAB

The guns they stole cost money; the vehicles they took are probably on credit, so now we have to service a loan on an asset that is being used by a bunch of terrorist thugs to try and kill our families.

And always blowing up communication masts to cut off the police, and ordinary folk just minding their own business.

We are going to have to find a way to fight these people more efficiently.

But to do that, we have to go back and take a hard look at our many, past mistakes. Hopefully before the next attack.

Secondly, war is a continuation of policy with other things, to quote Otto Von Clausewitz properly.

Sending our Chinese-made APCs and our brave boys across the border is all very well, but it is not enough to win us the peace.

We must bring into the mix other actions.

You remember the bar story about the market mad woman who would confront certain men and shout: During the day you call me mad Mary, at night you call me darling?

Well, there could be countries, perfectly respectable countries during the day, which might be offering help to Al-Shabaab for whatever reason.

These are state sponsors of terrorism.

Shouldn’t we tell their story in the marketplace and have them take responsibility for their secret children?

The world has treated the interim authorities with consideration and generosity.

They have received training, weapons and other aid in the fight against terror.

But can all that aid be accounted for?

Are the weapons now directed against our soldiers the very same ones provided by well-meaning benefactors?

THINK AHEAD

If everything given to Somalia ends up in the hands of Al-Shabaab, shouldn’t the giving be stopped?

Finally, does Al-Shabaab have friends in Kenya, with whom they do a spot of smuggling, or from whom they get moral support and succour?

Are there rich people, or even politicians, who finance or have links with Al-Shabaab?

Isn’t it time that such vampires, should they exist, be allowed to taste the sunshine of truth?

Should we continue protecting people who are committed to the destruction of our country?

It’s the kind of issue on which national dialogue is required.

In our country, no one loses an election.

Elections are stolen so there are only winners and everyone, therefore, should be in government, or in an alternative party, which has nomination rules more to our liking.

We have extended this same logic. Nobody fails exams, failing exams or being made to accept one’s true marks is unfair.

So we have a ridiculous situation where one single school has 200 A's.

In the old days, before national exams became big business, a few people would get very high marks, very few would fail flat, the majority would be around the average mark, some below, some above.

That’s the normal behaviour of scores.

Our children haven’t been passing exams. They have been cheating. Life doesn’t work like that.

As for our universities, let them compete by the quality of their degrees, not just trawl the sea of children with fake marks.