Negotiate with 'illegal' groups with utmost care

Two American presidents George W Bush and Barack Obama, pursued Al Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden to the ends of the Earth, arrested and renditioned thousands, flattened mountains in Afghanistan, honoured many fallen rangers and marines, but eventually, President Obama to the famous 3 am phone call and personally listened in as US Navy Seals silenced Osama in a sleepy Pakistani neighbourhood.

Months later, the Al Qaeda-affiliate, Taliban militia in Afghanistan has expressed their desire to hold roundtable talks with the US. Eager to join them is the Afghan President Hamid Karzai, if only to put an end to the bombing runs that are laying his country to waste. And now, Kenya is embroiled in a costly war to eject another Al Qaeda affiliate — Al Shabaab —who now consider Kenya Enemy Number One for humiliating them in 100 short days and driving them out of business. Kenya is emphatic that Al Shabaab is a band of cutthroat criminals who have invaded a sovereign country and as such, are fair game.

Resource distribution

Make no mistake, however, the Taliban, Al Shabaab and Al Qaeda are proscribed groups on the American and many other countries’ watchlists. The American rules of engagement are "shoot first-ask questions later".

Gross, but it works.

Locally, Prime Minister Raila Odinga and many other like-minded politicians have tentatively agreed to negotiate with an amorphous secessionist movement called Mombasa Republican Council (MRC). The coast-based outfit has raised its voice above the din of national politics, and being an election year, has caught the attention of the authorities.

Their gripe has to do with some covenant a Sultan signed with the Founding Fathers of Kenya, discrimination in resource distribution, failure to empower coastals, and land grabbing. The sum total is that MRC would like to secede and leave "Kenya Colony" to its devices.

This rapproachment has left many commentators jittery since the MRC was initially a banned grouping that had made criminal demands that impinge on Kenya’s territorial integrity. However, let’s leave that to the legal experts.

The concern is that MRC could through threat and intimidation hope to acquire the stature of other destructive elements like Mungiki. This latter was hijacked by opportunist politicians and gravitated into murder, extortion and influence peddling. The government lashed out ruthlessly and many Mungiki adherents fled from Nairobi and its environs.

Sadly, Mungiki has been adversely mentioned in the probe that culminated in trials at The Hague and still has the nation’s attention riveted on the possible outcomes.

The Sabaot Land Defence Force (SLDF), too, acquired guns and other lethal munitions with which they terrorised the local people of Mt Elgon. But when the army was unleashed on the rag-tag militia, they scattered to the four winds, its leaders caught and charged before court. Only recently were there reports of the SLDF elements re-grouping.

In Kisii, the dreaded Chinkororo and Kisungusungu gained acceptance among locals and morphed into a community-policing outfit. And for a while, peace reigned and crime became almost non-existent.

Vested interests

Today, however, there are murmurs that the Kisungusungu has actually held elections and has recognised representatives. Fear abounds, however, following allegations the new office-bearers may be aligned to certain politicians, sending jitters that they may be used as a standby militia in this election year.

How government approaches these groups under the umbrella of dialogue shall help explain the seemingly contradictory policy regarding illegal and/or proscribed groupings.

The Constitution does not recognise any other organised grouping other than elected representatives, officers that make the Executive, Judiciary and Legislature as the legitimate components of "government".

Therefore, any other group that purports to "be in charge" of any geographical area should be viewed with suspicion. More so if the outfits become extensions of vested interests of politicians and answer to their bidding.