Why Kenya remains a hunting ground for recruits to terrorism

A strange silence has descended on Kenyans at a time when they should be utterly horrified at the news that greeted them on Monday this week: That a bunch of terrorists had been planning to strike at targets in the capital city by detonating explosive devices that would have wreaked havoc and destroyed lives.

I waited in vain to hear security analysts, specialists, or even security forces hold forth on the issue.

There must have been a reason for the thunderous silence, but I don’t get it.

Kenyans are notoriously forgetful when it comes to issues involving their own lives.

Whenever terror atrocities occur, uproar ensues and blame is generously dished out all around.

PLOT

However, the outrage is always followed by abysmal apathy.

The fact is, ordinary Kenyans would rather discuss “General” Miguna’s perforated passport instead of acknowledging their security often depends on vigilance.

We tend to sink into complacency, forgetting potential terrorists are people who would rather die than give up their deadly pursuits.

On Monday morning, it was reported that a terror suspect who had stayed at a hotel in Nairobi’s CBD since February 9 was only apprehended when he travelled to Isiolo while apparently planning to transport deadly weapons to the city.

And that was only after members of the public alerted security forces about a car that had been hidden in the bush.

Reportedly, the car was full of improvised explosive devices and AK-4 assault rifles.

Judging from past experience, especially during the Westgate Mall siege, one can only imagine what these weapons were meant for.

TERROR ATTACKS
The only good news is these days, there are far fewer major terror attacks than in the past, most likely because our security agencies have become more efficient in detecting and thwarting them.

But those are not grounds enough for Kenyans in general to lose focus; we are not out of the woods yet, and never will be as long as our military forces remain in Somalia.

However, in my view, that is not even the main issue.

Experts insist Kenya’s biggest problems, which are the main reasons for the popularity of our country as a terrorist attraction, remain our porous borders and boundless greed among police and immigration officials.

If national identity cards and even passports continue being sold for a song, when shall we ever be safe?

GARISSA UNIVERSITY
The other problem, and one can only hope it has been fixed by now, is that our security forces have in past attacks been so lackadaisical in their response to terror attacks as to make the country a laughing stock.

For instance, during the 2015 Garissa University College massacre when at least 148 students were killed, terrorists held sway for a whole 15 hours.

It has never been explained satisfactorily why it took 11 hours for elite security forces to fly from Nairobi to Garissa and secure the college.

A similar thing happened during the Westgate mall attack two years earlier when 67 people were killed by Al-Shabaab militants during a siege that lasted close to three days.

The lack of discipline among the would-be rescuers saw them loot shops in the mall, a blemish that will forever stain our security forces.

POLICE DEPLOYMENT

But by now, it can be assumed that lessons have been learnt and measures put in place to ensure rapid deployment of elite troops should such a situation occur again.

Experts concur that the biggest problem this country faces is that it has become a fertile hunting ground for recruits to terror networks.

Thousands of young Kenyans have in the past been radicalised into violent extremism, and the reasons include poverty, joblessness, and hopelessness.

As a result, at one time, it was estimated that Kenyans made up 10 per cent of Al-Shabaab terrorists.

The figure may have gone down by now, but still, this is very troubling.

VIGILANCE
Many counter-terrorism measures have been adopted to reduce radicalisation in institutions of learning, but they cannot be expected to work overnight, which means marginalised youth will continue crossing over to countries like Somalia for training and then coming back home to kill and maim.

Our only hope is better policing, better intelligence and more vigilance, as long-term de-radicalisation measures take root.

By the way, whatever happened to the very sensible rule that before you enter any public service vehicle, a scanner must be used on your body and luggage?

Magesha Ngwiri is a consultant editor. [email protected]