'Inward look' by North Eastern Kenya leaders good

NAIROBI: The massacre of 148 Kenyans at the hands of terrorists in Garissa has understandably shocked the country.

As the country gathers itself from yet another bout of shock, a few positive things have happened surrounding the attack. The attack has galvanised support in campuses across the world as tens of vigils continue to be marked in honour of the Garissa university students.

Meanwhile, demonstrations of sympathy with the bereaved and strong statements of condemnation of the attacks from all over the world continue to flow. But what is clearly unprecedented in the wake of these attacks is the 'inward look' perspective taken by the leadership and by extension, residents of the North Eastern province.

After it emerged that a local home-grown terrorist masterminded the massacre in Garissa, political  and religious leaders from the North came out and announced they will take the lead in 'smoking out' potential terrorists, blacklist radicalising 'teachers' purveying extremism and their support networks.

The reason Kenyans should quickly support this new development is purely simple; for a long time we have been contented with myths as to the direct causes of terrorism and for the first time we are honest to ourselves about the patterns and circulations of local forms of terrorism.

One of the most easily bandied myths is that poverty and unemployment causes terrorism. Several arguments have been made that the historical economic neglect of the North Eastern Province has much to do with youths there seeking solace in extremist outfits.

Similar arguments have been made to explain the militant rise of groups such as the MRC and radicalised groups at the Coast. However, this is untrue.

Those that have believed this argument assume huge infrastructure developments, devolution and employment will stymie the spread of terror.

There is no convincing research that has ever provided the link between poverty or underdevelopment and a propensity to blow other people up.

Recently, the attacks in Lamu were followed by arguments that among several reasons, historical injustices were at the centre of the attacks. In actual fact, survivors narrated how the attackers cited historical moments of dispossession as rationale for the attacks.

This too, is untrue. The history of man is a history of dispossession and domination. All communities in Kenya and across the world have their own narratives of domination and dispossession.

Great powers like the United States, Canada and Australia have dark histories where minorities were annihilated and violently disposed of land, culture and identity yet history has little evidence of the offended communities electing terror as a method to right historical wrongs.

The other myth which is popularly held locally is that having KDF troops in Somalia is the cause of terrorism in Kenya. This too, is not entirely correct. Al-Shabaab terrorists are on record claiming that theirs is simply a campaign to displace an 'occupying force.'

However, experts have shown that new forms of terrorists' groups like the ISIS, Boko Haram and now Al-Shabaab do not, and cannot possibly be appeased by any policy changes since the 'caliphates' they seek are too idealistic to be delivered in any negotiated settlement.

That is why it is foolhardy to negotiate with them. So, what directly causes acts of terrorism, especially home-grown Kenya terror attacks? Well, it is not poverty and it is not KDF in Somalia. It has little to do with our history or any particular religion.

It has a lot to do with words.