How to win the war against Al-Shabaab

Kenyans have suffered greatly at the hands of the terror group, Al-Shabaab in recent years. From Westgate to Mpeketoni, Mandera and in Garissa last month, hundreds of innocent people have been killed.

We, the members of the North East Professional Association (NEPA) condemn the heartless killings. We share the pain of the families of the victims.  Al-Shabaab is an enemy of our country, way of life, values and principles. It is based on a wicked and murderous ideology that is abhorred by Islam and the Somali culture.

By separating non-Muslims and Muslims in its sadistic slaughter, the objective of this murderous organisation is to spark a religious war in Kenya. This must be defeated.

Why would Al-Shabaab claim to spare the lives of Muslims in Kenya when their biggest victims in Somalia are Muslims?

In Mogadishu, they massacred students departing for Turkey on academic scholarships and bombed a graduation ceremony of medical students, killing many graduates, staff and parents.

It is every parent’s nightmare to discover that their promising youths are being recruited to join such ideological misfits.

We have no doubt that the war against terror will be won. But how can we do this?

There are a number of gaps and lapses in our security system that need filling for us to win this war.

ROLE OF LOCAL COMMUNITIES

Al-Shabaab can be defeated with the co-operation of local communities. Winning the war will be an uphill task if the people fear security agents and terrorists in equal measure.

There is a climate of fear and mistrust in the region caused by the behaviour of the security forces.

Whereas the emergency laws have been repealed, police attitude towards the people of northern Kenya has never changed. Collective punishment and gross human rights abuses are the norm whenever there is an insecurity incident. 

A case in point is the 2012 rampage by the military in Garissa Town in response to the killing of three soldiers by gunmen, resulting in massive destruction of properties, maiming and loss of lives.

The emergency-period mentality, and generally, contemptuous disregard of the constitutional rights of local communities result in mistrust, fear and despondence among the local populace. This leads to the loss of crucial human intelligence that would help avert impending attacks.

The police and KDF personnel deployed should be trained on community engagement and human rights. They should be able to undertake civic education programmes with the aim of creating trust with the people.

Local people should be sensitised on their role in security matters. There is need to build conscience and legitimacy in the fight against organised crime and terrorism so that the people view the war on terrorism as a national duty.

Once this is done, we need to set up a clear, structured and well defined relationship between the community and the police in the collection of human intelligence. A large number of local people should be trained in intelligence and deployed in all areas of social engagement, including but not limited to, mosques, madrasas,  markets, hotels, bars, institutions of learning, transport industry, etc.

Once networks for collecting this intelligence are secured, the information they give should be analysed and acted upon in a timely manner. Verifying intelligence will guard against malicious accusations informed by political and business rivalries.

CORRUPTION AND INSECURITY

Nothing endangers the sovereignty of Kenya and the lives of its people more than corruption. Corruption  destroys lives, properties, human values and dignity and undermines our national security. Corrupt police officers have turned human intelligence into an enterprise, thus endangering lives of our countrymen and women.

It is because of corruption that criminals and terrorists enter or leave the country at will. Young men and women reported by their parents as missing and suspected of joining terrorist groups have re-entered the country “without detection”, and thereafter, committed atrocities.

We propose the localisation of security apparatus in Garissa, Wajir and Mandera to take advantage of the geographical knowledge, community structure, language and ethos. Because of these, a localised security structure will be more effective in fighting these terrorists.

We propose that the Government establishes a fully equipped multi-agency anti-Shabaab Squad with the necessary numbers, equipment and technology to secure our border with Somalia and whose members are drawn from the border region. 

Our suggestion is based on the fact that such officers are accustomed to hardship, walking long distances and tend to understand better the culture of nomadic communities.

This force should be complemented by local Kenya police reservists and KDF reservists as provided for in the Kenya National Police Service Act and the Kenya Defence Forces Act.

Let’s operationalise the County Policing Authority and the attendant mechanisms, as provided for in the statutes and second senior police officers who may be serving or retired to the county governments.

We call upon the government to fight a smart war without alienating sections of the Kenyan population.

Dr Arale is the chairman of the North East Professional Association and Mr Biriq is the secretary. This is an edited version of a speech read by Dr Arale at a meeting with the Kenya Editors Guild this week.