Kenyan: Politicians Must Foster Unity amid Heightened Political Tension
By Staff Writer
Analysts and politicians in Kenya have warned national leaders that they risk increasing ethnic divisions if they continue to try to make political gain out of the recent violence in the northeast of the country.
At least 70 people have been killed in 3 strikes on the towns of Mpeketoni, Maporomoko, and Pandanguo along the Kenyan coast near Lamu on June 15, 16 and 24, 2014.
With increased confusion on the identity of perpetrators of the attacks, accusations flew between the ruling Jubilee coalition led by President Uhuru Kenyatta, and the opposition Coalition for Reforms and Democracy (CORD), headed by former Prime Minister Raila Odinga.
Somali Al-Qaeda linked Islamist group Al-Shabab claimed responsibility for the attacks, as revenge for the ongoing Kenyan military intervention in southern Somalia as part of UN backed Amisom Force.
President Kenyatta dismissed Al-Shabab’s claim and instead blamed “local political networks” in northeast Kenya. He described the attacks as “politically motivated ethnic violence” targeting what he called “a Kenyan community”. The two towns are home to large numbers of the president’s own ethnic group, the Kikuyu.
CORD responded sharply to what was seen as a hint that it was involved in the attacks, and rejected claims by government officials that it was seeking to destabilize the country through violence.
On June 18, a group of 27 parliamentarians from both Jubilee and CORD called on their respective leaders to cool their rhetoric. They also asked for political rallies to be suspended while an independent investigation into the attacks takes place.
“Members of the National Assembly are disgusted and disturbed by the current state of affairs,” Joel Onyancha, the Jubilee member for Bomachoge Borabu in western Kenya, told the media.
“We are therefore making a request that we do not lose sight of [the fact] that we are united in diversity. We are making a request for a cessation of verbal hostilities. Kenyans, irrespective of station in life, must restrain themselves from verbal attacks and innuendos that may poison our nations,” he said.
The violence follows a spate of attacks in the coastal city of Mombasa and in a Somali-dominated suburb of Eastleigh in Nairobi.
While there is confusion over who was behind the latest attacks, critics have questioned why Kenyatta was so quick to dismiss Al-Shabab’s claim and why he has not been able to hold security chief responsible for laxity.
United States of America blames Al-Shabab for the latest attacks, and the group is not thought to have claimed responsibility for any past attack it did not carry out.
Last September, the group attacked a West Gate shopping mall in Nairobi killing 67 people and injuring more than 200 others.
“I think the government is casting around for enemies to blame because it is impotent to prevent the actual security threat and the consequences that are taking place,” said Mike Jennings, a senior lecturer at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London. “It is clearly seeking to deflect attention, to deflect blame rather than manage the crisis.”
POLITICAL TENSIONS
Since his return from the USA, Odinga has been holding a series of political rallies designed to pressure the government on its handling of the security crisis and other issues.
Before the latest attacks, the government had refused to hed Odinga’s call to hold a national dialogue on matters affecting Kenyans.
CORD leadership has pledged that it will go on with it’s arrange rallies, culminating on July 7, unless such a consultation takes place.
Report in Kenya’s The Star Newspaper indicating that Odinga’s backers have threatened to swear in their leader as president if there is no national consultation on security are rife, though not confirmed.
Reports which the former Premier terms as hearsay, stating he has a conscience and moral responsibility to himself and Kenyans that will never allow him to seek ascending to power via dubious means such as overthrowing the government, despite making a series of scathing statements about its handling of the security threat.
“We will continue with our rallies because what has just happened confirms the need for national dialogue,” Odinga said. “One of the issues we are addressing is security, and there is urgency to deal with this issue.”
Odinga described Kenyatta’s assessment of this week’s attacks as “unfortunate and unjustified” and said he had ignored both intelligence information and the views of other countries that pointed to Al-Shabab.
Analysts in Kenya say the political foes need to come together to tackle the crisis.
“It is worrying that this security situation has become so quickly politicized,” Cedric Barnes, from the International Crisis Group, told IWPR. “Both sides need to reduce the rhetoric and talk to each other. But both sides are not doing that.
“What should happen is there should be a unified national response to this awful attack and an investigation should be instigated.”
Jennings, too, criticized Kenya’s leaders for increasing tensions on the ground.
“The only solution to that is for those same political elites to ramp down that language; to understand that they can’t do this,” he said. “And we saw this in the [2013] elections, so it is clearly possible. And what we also saw in the elections was a very strong desire by Kenyans themselves [to keep the peace].”
Others argue that Odinga should tread extremely carefully, using his role as opposition leader to challenge a much-criticized government response to the security problem, but without exploiting the situation for political gain.
“There needs to be a broad agreement on a strategy, and that isn’t to say that the opposition should agree with everything the government is doing, the opposition should be there to challenge the government,” Jennings said. “But clearly there needs to be greater unanimity on what the nature of that problem is.”
Others noted that leaders seemed to be discussing an immediate security challenge in the context of elections that are not due until 2017.
Secretary General of the National Council of Churches of Kenya (NCCK) Reverend Canon Peter Karanja, said now was not the time for political campaigning.
“They were campaigning and engaging politically,” he said. “Politicians should give us space. For now, there is no basis for a political contest,” He urged.
Karanja called for neutral, apolitical figures to lead a dialogue on the security situation facing Kenya.
“We need an appropriate and timely dialogue that will be driven by other [parties] who don’t have political interests,” he said. “The president and Odinga would be participants, able to bring views. But the outcome of the dialogue should not be dependent on them because that then ceases to be dialogue and becomes a political contest.”
DEVOLVING SECURITY APPARATUS IS KEY
Meanwhile, analysts say unity and dialogue are needed not only at national level but also, and possibly more crucially, locally.
A new system of devolved governance across Kenya’s 47 counties, in place for a little over a year, has caused confusion over exactly who is responsible for security.
According to a report in Kenya’s Daily Nation newspaper, a warning from the intelligence services that an attack was imminent was not acted on by security officials in the north east.
Director of the African Studies Centre at Oxford University (ASCOU) believes that one of the major constraints on a more robust security strategy is the uncertainty surrounding the issue at the county level.
“In some places the county governor is trying to take charge, in some places the senator, in other places we have county commissioners – which is basically the same old provincial commission but under a new guise – saying they are in charge of security,” said Cheeseman.
“It seems like in a number of places, the basic problem that we usually have in Kenya, the basic lack of capacity to actually police effectively, is now being compounded by a second problem, deep confusion about who is directing control of security operations at the county level.
“Party division is undermining concerted coherent action at that [county] level. At the local level in places like the coast, the county is often run by CORD affiliates who have a majority in the county assemblies and hold the governorship and decide how much money they want to spend as a county on things like extra security. But the Jubilee Alliance government controls the county commissioners, and so there is a partisan divide. Having more party unity [at that level] would be a good thing.”
WHAT ARE KENYANS SAYING
Our leaders should be held accountable to their remarks and instead of politicking, try to find solutions to better the lives of ordinary people. Majority think that it doesn’t matter which coalition is in charge, but all leaders must work together keeping in mind that they might be forming the next government and Kenyans will be vetting them.
The government has done very little to protect our territory, with the increased attacks on civilians the idea of devolving security to county level is the best
Major security agencies headquarters such as the Central Investigation Department (CID), National Security Intelligence Service (NSIS), General Service Unit (GSU), Kenya Defense Force, Kenya Police and Administration Police (AP) should be decentralized from the capital to areas frequently hit by cases of insecurity across the country.
STATE OF SECURITY IN AFRICA
Africa has been plunged into crisis after crisis in the 21st century starting with the Arab revolution springs in Saharan Africa, toppling governments in Tunisia, Libya, Egypt and Central Africa Republic of Congo ushering in the regimes of terror.
Different militia groups from Boko Haram in Nigeria, Tourag’s – Mali, Seleka- CAR Congo to Al-Qaeda linked Al-Shabaab in East Africa have raised havoc and terror, organizing kidnappings, carjacking, rape, murders and trafficking have paralyzed the continents economy and stability.
These have caused governments to rethink their security strategies and approaches so as to be more effective in providing security to their people as well as squashing the militias.