Maritime security key plank for economic growth

Richard Miriti

Kenya needs broad-based approach to fight piracy in the high seas. Though there has never been cases of pirates attacking ships from within and far off Kenyan waters much needs to be done to avert acts of piracy within Somalia waters.

For years now, millions of dollars has changed hands from shipping companies to pirates. In order to dramatically close in on pirates’ operations, the associates of the ‘bad guys’ should be hunted down from where they co-ordinate their activities.

It has been reported often times that those supporting the business reside from as near as some Gulf nations and as far off as Canada, where they monitor and report the movement of ships to the pirates in Somalia.

Positively, piracy has enabled Kenyan Coastal fishermen to secure bumper harvests, although the argument for this is credited to stoppage of illegal fishing by big fishing firms from the West due to piracy in Somali waters. Negatively piracy has impacted on the entire East African economy.

The cost of shipping has increased drastically sending importers and exporters looking elsewhere for alternative business ventures. What has come as improved methods of piracy includes the use of mother ships to venture farther from Somali waters to strike vulnerable ships as far as Seychelles in the South and Gulf of Aden in the North.

What basically started as protection of fishing in Somali waters by Somali fishermen turned into a multimillion-dollar lucrative operation of hijacking any ship heading to the port of Mombasa.

Mother ships

Small fishing boats from East Africa have been hijacked and acted as mother ship for the pirates. Mother ships are able to sail in deep waters far from Somalia where unsuspecting ships are hijacked with an operation that typically lasts less than 20 minutes.

Individuals dealing with piracy should not be given free passage of travel to different nations. A list of people known to engage in piracy should be compiled and their assets frozen. This should be an indicator that the world is serious with the war on piracy.

Kenya’s economy has been compromised by acts of piracy. How can Kenya protect its nation’s maritime security in a dynamic environment against such elusive threat as piracy? Kenya needs to develop an asymmetric approach of complementally security measures to go after and defend against pirates.

At this level it is difficult to classify the threat of piracy. Some may argue it falls under national security while others will say it does not qualify to be a domestic threat. Piracy at best qualifies for both definitions when maritime security is at risk.

We need to protect our fishermen, interdict drug smugglers, and frustrate terrorists’ operations within our waters. The bombings of Kikambala in 2002 and August 7, 1998 bombing of the US embassy tracked the footprints of terror masterminds through the coastal waters to Somalia.

What Kenya needs right now is a Coast Guard. Given that a navy has no powers to arrest or intercept domestic maritime threats, the Coast Guard takes up the role and executes it as its primary function.

A Coast Guard is a governmental force employed to defend a country’s Coast against smuggling. It is also used to aid vessels in distress and maintain lighthouses on the shores. It also helps in ecological disasters and guards against illegal fishing. The Coast Guard can act as civilian law and enforcers in peacetime, while the navy maintains its military role in time of war.

Kenya needs to tighten its ports’ security because Government has an obligation to protect its gateway to the entire East Africa.

With the EAC agreement of free movement of goods and people, Kenya needs to keep her Coast safe from dumping of substandard goods from other ports. There has to be awareness of security threat well in advance to avoid reacting to situations.

Kenya’s naval forces should continue flying our flag beyond our waters deep into Somalia to protect all ships destined to dock at our port. The Coast Guard needs to remain at the harbour and all points of entry to control the movement of one’s vessels and inspect suspect ones.

With world commerce mainly crisscrossing the seas, Kenya stands to lose if our coastal areas are not adequately protected.

The writer works and lives in the US.