Let’s forge a united front to defeat the threat of terrorism

When Kenya attained independence from Britain in 1963, President Jomo Kenyatta looked for a national symbol to bring the disparate groups of the new nation together. Then, Kenya comprised an eclectic collection of tribes, ethnicities and cultures, whose shared experience was colonialism.

Like many post-colonial countries, the early leaders of the Kenyan state struggled with the question of how to forge a united and positive national identity that surpassed tribal lines. As legend goes, the President was once travelling and witnessed a team of men working together in cohesion and harmony to build a railway line. He was inspired by this sight, and from there came our national motto, Harambee. 

The intervening years have not been easy for us. We have faced poverty, dictatorship, tribal violence, repression and rampant corruption. At times it has felt like the country was being torn apart at the seams, while at other times it has seemed like our economy was on the verge of collapsing. Some have even predicted the break-up of Kenya, doubting whether it would continue to exist as a united, sovereign state. Yet somehow, despite the naysayers and prophets of doom, we are still here. Sometimes we quibble, often we struggle, but we are here, together.

The secret of our resilience is Harambee. For as Kenyans, whatever our differences, the spirit of Harambee causes us to pull together at crucial and difficult times. Our national football team is known as the Harambee Stars, for they embody this ethos of teamwork, patriotism and unity.

It was Harambee that helped us defeat colonialism and establish our own independent state. It was Harambee that empowered millions of brave Kenyans to stand up against the one party state in the 1980s and establish a representative, multi-party democracy. And after the horrors of the 2007/8 post-election violence, when Kenya appeared on the verge of falling apart, it was Harambee that allowed us to put our country back together.

The lesson, it seems, is that however much some try to pull us apart, the majority wants to unite, for a shared and peaceful future.

In recent years, Kenya has faced a new threat, that of Islamic terrorism. While the phenomena itself is nothing new in Kenya, over the past decade it has escalated to one of the prime challenges facing our country. And while the past couple of years have been relatively quiet, we were reminded once again of the evil of terror with the dusitD2 Hotel attack a few weeks ago.

As we face up to this latest threat, we must keep in mind the lesson of Harambee. Just as with colonialism, authoritarianism and tribalism, this enemy is a tough one. Its goal is to divide us, to rupture our way of life and to defeat us. It is a determined foe. But so are we. We are the people of Kenya, a proud, determined and strong people, who have come together to overcome challenges. We shall not allow the terrorists, who hate our existence as a free people, to dictate to us how to live or to scare us. We will not allow them to divide us.

We will stand behind the President, as he leads our fightback with bravery, courage and vision. We will support our police, military and counter-terror forces, as they guard our borders, streets and shopping malls, risking their lives to protect ours. We will stand together with the families and friends of those who lost their life in the dusitD2 attacks, for their loss is our loss.

Most of all, like the generations who came before us, we will evoke the spirit of Harambee, and stand together to defeat this enemy. We will evoke the spirit of our national anthem, “Natujenge taifa letu. Ee, ndio wajibu wetu. Kenya istahili heshima. Tuungane mikono. Pamoja kazini. Kila siku tuwe na shukrani,” and just as we have done in the past, together we shall overcome!

-The writer is former Thika MP