Terrorists can only be defeated through united action

The moving, eloquent speech by Kamukunji MP Yusuf Hassan during the National Prayer Day breakfast summed up the challenge Kenya faces today in dealing with one of the most significant security crises the nation has faced since independence.

Distilled, Mr Hassan’s message was simple: Kenya will be better off facing the murderous ideology of Al-Shabaab as one nation united across ethnic and religious lines rather than as a divided people.

That is a message which bears heeding because Al-Shabaab has made no secret of its strategy. It seeks to sow hatred between communities and to make the wider North Eastern and Coastal counties divorced from the rest of the country so that the extremists can have an easier ride in seeking recruits.

Kenyans and the government have an important duty in ensuring that they do not succeed.

There is absolutely no question that the Shabaab espouses an opportunistic and bankrupt ideology. They kill Muslims by the dozen every week in Somalia but in Kenya they purport to kill only Christians. Their wicked approach has no basis in either Islamic or Somali culture.

Yet if not tackled carefully, it is possible that policy missteps and the lack of a coherent strategy might serve to undermine the war against the group.

Two points are especially important. The government must avoid the temptation to deal with the problem through mass punishment of communities (including by indiscriminate closure of businesses) and the security machinery must more genuinely embrace the need for collaborative relationships with community leaders including elders and elected county officials to tackle the Al-Shabaab menace.

NEW STRATEGY

Lessons from conflicts happening around the world offer pointers as to the depth of strategic calculation those in power have to make to ensure that the decisions they take will keep Kenyans safe.

Engaging the community is one of the most critical steps the authorities need to make.

It is a fact that no insurgent group relying on unconventional warfare can be beaten without active community support.

It should be easy to rally support against the Shabaab in the North-Eastern counties because no people have suffered more from the security crisis than the citizens resident in Wajir, Mandera and Garissa counties.

Essential services such as education and healthcare are facing a huge strain due to the departure of trained personnel.

A region which was already marginalised and which had viewed the promise of devolution with great hope now faces fresh setbacks.

However, winning community support against Shabaab, especially in intelligence gathering, is complicated by the adversarial and even hostile relations between the community and security forces. A situation where locals see the security forces as a hostile entity is not conducive at all.

The national government must operationalise the County Policing Authorities recommended by the Constitution. County officials who are already spending millions of shillings from their development budget to help with security should be indispensable allies in efforts to tackle the criminals.

Human intelligence is key and a large number of locals should be trained in intelligence and deployed in all areas of social engagement including mosques, madrasas, markets, hotels, bars, institutions of learning and the transport industry.

Imams who take a stand against the Shabaab should be offered security. Religious and community elders should be at the heart of “soft power” initiatives to win over the community.

COLLABORATIVE APPROACH

This collaborative approach is the key to battling extremists. It will be recalled that when the American troops were reeling from attacks by al-Qaeda aligned forces in Iraq in 2006, they only managed to reverse the tide by reaching out to the minority Sunni community and convincing elders from 30 tribes to fight and oust the Qaeda forces from their midst in what was named the “Anbar Awakening.”

Authorities in Kenya, too, should place the community at the heart of any strategy to eliminate Al-Shabaab.

The need to avoid the path of collective punishment, especially by indiscriminate closure of businesses or ill-advised mass arrests, is illustrated by events in Yemen.

It is notable that after the uprisings in the Arab world, which Saudi Arabia strongly opposed, the kingdom abruptly decided to expel, in 2013, more than 300,000 Yemenis simply on the basis of their citizenship.

That decision gravely weakened an already poor economy in Yemen which is heavily dependent on remittances and observers believe that the crisis in Yemen, into which Saudi Arabia has now been dragged as an active participant, was fed in part by the influx of unemployed men.

Collective punishment during the Shifta wars and that war against the Gikuyu, Embu and Meru communities in the colonial era led to resentment and resistance at the grassroots.

A new approach is necessary. Placing ethnic Kenyan Somalis, including the formation of specialised anti-Shabaab squads, at the heart of the strategy will help to tackle this menace.

Mr Hassan was right. Kenya is a traditionally tolerant and peaceful nation. Foreign extremist ideologues should not tear the bonds that hold our society together. Kenyans, regardless of their religion and ethnicity, must unite in tackling terror and resist the temptation to stereotype. Al-Shabaab is a menace that can only be tackled through united action, not disunity.

Abdiwahid Biriq is an advocate and secretary, North East Professionals Association