Raila Odinga: Kenya still stuck in ‘original sin’ in war on terror

A police officer checks a young girl’s bag at Eastleigh estate last week. [PHOTO: STANDARD]

By JACOB NG’ETICH

NAIROBI, KENYA: When he presided over the pass out parade for newly recruited police officers in Kiganjo last Friday, President Uhuru Kenyatta declared war against terror in the country.

In a terse statement, the President declared that people who choose to pursue an ideology of death and destruction against innocent Kenyans would not hold the country hostage.

That war has started, but whereas there is consensus across the country that it’s a priority, opinion is sharply divided over the strategy.

While some leaders are supportive of Operation Usalama Watch in Eastleigh that has netted hundreds of illegal immigrants and a cache of weapons, others have described the government action as a violation of human rights and see in it a scheme to sabotage business in the area.

Residents are opposed to the swoop, which they allege has been used by security officers to solicit bribes, rape women and torture innocent youth. The government has insisted that the operation has been handled professionally and would continue in the interest of national security.

The President has defended the operation saying his government was neither targeting any individual nor religion.

Reacting to the operation, CORD leader and former Prime Minister Raila Odinga said the exercise was “unfortunate, ill-advised and founded on a shaky premise,” adding that it “portends more harm than good for the country in the long run”.

In a statement to The Standard on Sunday, Raila said all nations that based their approach to war on terror on the assumption that terrorists belonged to specific ethnic, racial or religious groups and have similar specific looks have since discovered that approach to be faulty and abandoned it.

“Terrorism has overcome religious, race and tribal barriers. Kenya is either stuck in the original sin that was committed in the war on terror or is up to something else, while claiming to be fighting terrorism,” said Raila.

HISTORICAL INJUSTICES

The former Prime Minister said the government needed to address issues of historical injustices, unemployment and the feeling of exclusion among many communities and sections of the population.

“Targeting Somalis and Muslims will not work. It will only enhance the sense of being wronged and sinned against,” he said.

But Senate Majority Leader Prof Kithure Kindiki, Jubilee chief whip in the Senate Beatrice Elachi and National Assembly Minority Leader Francis Nyenze are in agreement that the operation was long overdue.

Kindiki said the government should be firm and unapologetic in safeguarding the security of all Kenyans.

“This should have happened long ago, it is not unique to Kenya. Any nation that treasures its citizens will go at greater lengths to secure them. The government should be swift and firm in dealing with the criminals and it should not be diverted or distracted by any noise,” said Kindiki.

“The criminals can sneak out to safe havens only to come back after the swoop. So the exercise should be continuous not a one-off, we need to defeat terrorist and their cohorts,” said Kindiki.

Elachi urged security officers to widen the operation to cover other areas like South C, Kilimani, sections of Mombasa and Malindi. “The operation should be expanded beyond Eastleigh, there is need to ensure that the clean up is thorough and all encompassing,” said Elachi. She proposed that the government should invest in new generation Identity Cards with a chip that would capture the bio-data of all holders as a way of getting rid of illegal immigrants.

Nyenze differed with the CORD principal and pledged to support the government operation to ensure security of Kenyans across the country.

“We support President Uhuru Kenyatta in his efforts to flush out terrorists. Our security as a nation is paramount, we should not complain as the security officers are doing their work. The officers must, however, ensure they do not harass innocent Kenyans,” said Nyenze.

Former Deputy Prime Minister Musalia Mudavadi also supported the operation, saying that radical but lawful measures must be put in place to ensure the security of Kenyans.

“The government should not compromise on security. They should even cordon off refugee camps as a safety measure,” said Mudavadi.

But according to Siaya Senator James Orengo, whereas security of the nation is of utmost importance, there is need to abide by the Constitution in conducting security operations.

Speaking to The Standard on Sunday, Orengo said the use of brute force in tackling insecurity could be counter-productive with a possibility of entrenching radicalisation.

“Nations which have used the scorched earth policy where maximum force is used to clear a security problem have in the end created more problems. Beating up people, detaining them and subjecting them to trumped up charges could produce the opposite effect,” said Orengo.

CONFUSED OPERATION

The Siaya Senator said there was need to for the government to come up with a multifaceted security operation bringing together Immigration, KRA and police officers on our borders.

“There is infiltration of persons and goods into the country. You can imagine if contrabands, including truck loads of sugar, can penetrate then you know there are problems,” said Orengo.

Commenting on the security operation, Eldoret Catholic Bishop Cornelius Korir explained that whereas the government was in order to weed out terrorists, emphasis should be more on prevention than reacting to situations.

“Security officers should be allowed to do their job, because what do you to people who want to kill and maim? The security operations should, however, be done in a humane way and within the law,” said Bishop Korir.

But Father Gabriel Dolan and Mvita MP Abdulswamad Nassir have a different view. According to them, the government is mixing terrorism with an immigration problem of illegal immigrants thereby running a confused security operation.

“Those who engage in terrorism are individuals and not aliens or communities, the government needs to repurpose its security actions,” said Dolan.

The outspoken Catholic cleric accused the government of engaging in a propaganda war and playing to the gallery. “The Likoni attack like many other attacks was done by individuals. Security officers should go for the criminals and stop making blanket arrests targeting a community or religion. It is not solving the problem,” said Father Dolan.

POROUS BORDERS

Nassir said that the operation that saw more than 80 illegal immigrants deported to Somali was a confirmation that our borders are porous and people could easily find their way into the country. “If that is the case then why do we have our army in a foreign country when we cannot secure our borders. We do not know how much our army is spending daily away when they should be securing our borders,” said Nassir.

He said it was wrong that in the process of correcting a mistake, the government was committing a more serious mistake of profiling a community and a religion. “If you subject such people and others, even five year olds, to harassment you only breed resentment and encourage combatant enemies. The Somalis now are saying that the government is against us, this easily leads to radicalisation,” said Nassir.

But Kajiado West MP Moses ole Sakuda, insisted that the security forces should search all nooks and crannies beyond Eastleigh to smoke out every criminal in the country.

“Security officers should be encouraged to maintain the tempo, I do not believe the government is targeting any community or religion, it is making the country safe for us and our children and they should not relent until they smoke out the criminals from their holes,” he said.

Lagdera MP Mohamed Shidiye disagrees with this argument, instead condemning the government for arbitrarily subjecting the Somali community to inhuman treatment instead of arresting terrorists.

“How can you round up and beat adults and rape women arrest 1,000 people. The police are getting it wrong; they are soliciting bribes and harassing people in the name of fighting terrorists. The move is against human rights and counterproductive,” said Shidiye.

Former National Assembly Deputy Speaker, Farah Maalim said innocent Muslims and Somalis suffered at the hands of overzealous security officers in the swoop that visited torture on the victims.

He said women were not handled according to the Muslim faith hence infringing on their privacy.

“The government should not target only one community in fighting terror in the country. We should be careful lest we create animosity between Muslims and Christians,” said Maalim.

CORD chief Whip and Kilifi North MP Gideon Mung’aro said the exercise should be continuous and not a one-off operation.