Mr President, you are on the right path on terror war ignore detractors

By Barrack Muluka

You have probably heard the story of a man, his wife and a donkey. Once, long ago, the couple was travelling on a donkey. They had not gone far when they met other wayfarers. Suddenly someone remarked, “What a cruel couple! Two people riding on a poor donkey!”

Surprised, the couple agreed to ride one person at a time. The man went first, as you may very well expect. “What a cruel man!” someone remarked, “Look at him, travelling on a donkey while the wife is walking. Men!” The confounded couple decided to swap places. Now the woman sat on the donkey. The man walked alongside. But the critics were not done with them. “Look, there goes a useless henpecked husband. How can a man walk while the wife is riding on the donkey?”

Exasperated, they decided they would both walk beside the donkey. “What a stupid couple!” The snide remark came, “Just imagine a foolish man and his stupid wife walking with a donkey! Why can’t they ride on its back?”

Such is the nature of detractors. You can never satisfy them, you can’t beat them. They will always outwit you. For their objective is never altruistic. They ride on the fuel of dissent. In any event, you get the impression that such is the fuel that drives Civil Society and the political Opposition in Kenya today. Nothing brings out their double face as snugly as their posturing with insecurity in the country.

Whenever the merchants of terror strike, they fall over one another with apocalyptic messaging. “We are perishing. The Government has abandoned us to the mercy of terrorists. This Government must wake up.” They never say what “waking up” means. Nor do they ever say what, exactly, the Government should do. They only agitate for some vague action.

When the Government acts, they get on the rooftops again. “This Government is abusing human rights. They should not abuse citizens under the pretext of fighting insecurity.”

You get the impression that the tissue of Government is sadism. It is suggested that the Government delights in sheer harassment of innocent people. The harassment is an end in itself. You have therefore heard all manner of complaints about people of certain descriptions and spiritual affiliations “being tortured by the State, under the pretext of fighting terrorism.” The Leader of the Majority in the National Assembly, Aden Duale, has joined them. He even threatened to quit, before eating his words.

Civil society and the Opposition CORD are in their element. Never mind that only a few weeks ago, in the wake of terror attacks in Eastleigh and Likoni, they were screaming out for “action against terrorism.” However, they never told you what constitutes “action against terrorism.” Maybe it is true that the Government has got it wrong. Pray, could somebody tell us what exactly the Government should do so as to satisfy everybody that it is now going about this terrorism thing the right way?

I have learnt from the donkey narrative that you can never satisfy those whose mission is only to vilify you. They will vilify you, regardless. When you know in your heart of hearts that what you are doing is right and the law allows you, go right ahead with your thing. Do not listen to self-serving pansophists.

It does not matter what this Government does or says, self-seekers will never see anything good about it. You would have thought, for example, that in the face of the kind of threat that terrorism poses against the country, we would find a common voice for once. But no, the Opposition must play politics with everything – including your security. Civil Society must remain relevant by crying out, “Human rights!’

I am personally satisfied that this Government is doing the right thing. We cannot play politics with terrorism and insecurity. If those in the Opposition think that their sham posturing with “human rights” will give them votes at the next election, then they have no idea how far they have drifted from the popular mood. Kenyans are fed up of terrorists.

Terrorism is not even a criminal matter, contrary to what we have often mislead ourselves to believe. Terrorism is a form of warfare. It belongs to the territory of military affairs. This particular style of combat belongs to the guerilla docket of engagement. The terrorists are, therefore, not ordinary criminals. They are war criminals belonging to an invading army. These militias attack easy civilian targets. Their melting into civilian populations enables them to operate with ease.

So how will the Government tell who is al-Shabaab and who is not? It must begin from the known and move on to the unknown. That is what the Kenya Government is doing. The mop up began in the place where terrorist attacks have mostly been happening, Eastleigh. The population there is, of course, heavily Somali and Islamic. It is true that not all Muslims are terrorists. Equally true is that not all Somalis are terrorists. But it is also true that all the terrorist attacks against our civilian populations have been Somali Muslims. When the Government acts, therefore, where is it supposed to begin, if not in the intersection of the Islamic, Somali population in Eastleigh? What would be the logic in beginning the manhunt in Kilgoris in Trans Mara, for example? Practical logic would guide you to begin from the known and move on to the unknown.

Those crying foul must know that there is no middle ground in the war against terrorism. You are either with Kenya or with the terrorists. Something else, we don’t know the face of the terrorist movement in Kenya. Al Shabaab has operated in Kenya as a shadowy underground movement. Surely the people who detonate explosive devices against Kenyans are only the spanner boys? Who is in the high command? Who is in the think tank?

We are today hearing leaders publicly pronounce the same philosophy about public affairs and opportunities in our country as Al Shabaab. We have heard people apologise for Sharif Abubakar Makaburi, a self-confessed militant. And we have heard Imams, on loud speakers, calling out from holy mosques for the killing of “all Makafiri.” Then we have seen Muslim leaders defending them in public. And you still think that you are dealing with criminals? You still imagine that you can play politics with this one? President Kenyatta is on the right path, whatever his detractors may say. Go on, Mister President, go on. Don’t look back.