This is a war that we can only win as one, so let’s put aside petty differences

A woman lights a candle at a memorial in Nairobi for the victims of the Garissa University College attack on April 7, 2015. PHOTO | EVANS HABIL |

What you need to know:

  • This is not just a Kenyan issue but a global campaign.
  • We must unite to fight the merchants of death and destruction with one clear strategy and one common goal.

Kenya is at war, and this campaign against terrorism cannot be waged by a divided house.

It is, therefore, essential that all Kenyans unite across political, religious, ethnic, regional, class, racial, and other barriers to jointly prosecute this holy campaign against the evil forces that aim to dismember this great nation.

The Garissa University College attack reminds us that Al-Shabaab and related malcontents aim at nothing less than total destruction of civilisation as we know it.

That is why we must confront them with single-minded resolve and with all the weapons at our command.

This is not just a Kenyan issue but a global campaign.

Al-Shabaab is not just a local or regional threat, but an international spectre that is already causing bloody mayhem in Nigeria through Boko Haram, in parts of the Middle East through the so-called Islamic State, IS, and elsewhere through other offshoots of the Al-Qaeda network domiciled in parts of Afghanistan and Pakistan.

This is a war that Kenya cannot fight on its own without international support and it is also a war that Kenya must, when necessary, take across its own borders to hit the terrorists in their lairs.

We cannot ask for international support, however, when we are divided among ourselves.

Right now Al-Shabaab would be laughing themselves hoarse at the likelihood of Kenyans allowing the usual petty political feuds to distract them from the war against terrorism.

We must, therefore, unite to fight the merchants of death and destruction with one clear strategy and one common goal.

This cannot be about Jubilee and Cord, neither can it be about President Uhuru Kenyatta and opposition chief Raila Odinga.

It cannot be about Christians and Muslims or any other competing sectional groupings, but about a Kenya in which all who love the country must agree to peacefully co-exist within its richness of diversity.

Peace, stability, safety, and security for all will only be achieved through a united effort against the forces that would be only too glad to exploit our divisions to their own selfish ends.

PROPAGANDA

While differences of opinion are healthy and a clear reminder of our liberal democracy, we can find ways of driving the debate without putting on display a divided nation.

Let us be honest and make contributions without seeking to score political points. Put another way, let us not seek to exploit the terrorist killings for political gain.

Petty feuds and knee-jerk, populist reactions will only see us playing into the hands of Al-Shabaab.

In the wake of the previous assault on Mpeketoni, the government made grievous mistakes with ill-thought-out statements that sought to blame the massacre on the opposition, civil society, Western interests, and everybody else but Al-Shabaab.

That was a classic demonstration of a government propaganda machinery gone haywire. Yet we have a tendency not to learn from the post, and hence indications even after Garissa that the President listened more to the short-sighted political activists in his orbit rather than the professionals.

A prime example here was in the executive order purporting to defy the High Court on the suspended police recruitment.

President Kenyatta had to beat an embarrassing retreat when it turned out that not even public anger over the massacre and subsequent support for tough action would allow him to overrule the courts.

The big lesson here is that even if we must wage a tough and relentless war against terrorism, we are still a nation of laws.

Imperative of the war against terrorism cannot be exploited to introduce dictatorship, trample on human rights, gag the media, or silence the opposition.

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What would be the reaction if a political party, Safina, for instance, had a function during which they demanded that all journalists covering it wear the party’s colours?

What if they went further to seat the media corp in segregated enclaves and banned a “non-compliant” lot from asking questions?

Something like that happened at a KCB product launch last week. Big fail, and especially the subsequent pressure from bank representatives on journalists who reported the fact.

[email protected]. @MachariaGaitho on Twitter