Bombing Boni forest is not the solution

(Photo: Courtesy)

Coast Regional Coordinator Nelson Marwa is a fine (albeit too intense) man whose top blows whenever the name Ali Hassan Joho is mentioned. Sometimes I fear he could get a coronary if he doesn't go slow on Joho, drug addicts roaming the Coast region and now, the sneaky Al Shabaab scallywags hiding somewhere in the Boni forest. In his infinite wisdom, Marwa believes bombing Boni forest is the magic wand that will make Kenyans sleep easy and live happily thereafter. But that is being sentimental to the point of missing the bigger picture.

Boni forest in Garissa County covers 517 square miles and is a classified national reserve. It occasionally provides sanctuary to elephants and is home to buffalo, warthogs, bush pigs and a host of other wild animals. And there are human beings too, who depend on the forest for livelihood. Blinded by misplaced patriotic fervour, Marwa sees only the Al Shabaab, wants to exterminate them, and everything else, including the lives of the innocent Boni people, is collateral damage.