Mandera offers a turning point in war on terror

When I first heard news that heroic Muslims in Mandera had thwarted the evil designs of Al Shabaab to separate them from Christians with the aim of killing the latter, I thought it was too good to be true.

Since last year, I am one of the few people who firmly believe that the war against terror will be won, not through the gallant efforts of the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) nor the National Police Service. It is my stand that only when local communities form the first line of defence against terrorists shall this war be won.

That is why I am elated about the Mandera heroes. I am over the moon to see Kenya reclaiming her historic place as the citadel of religious tolerance and harmony.

The essence of terror is to divide people, faiths, communities, nationalities and ethnic groups. The Mandera effect is more painful to the Al Shabaabs, Al Qaedas, ISIS and other blood thirsty groups than when KDF blows a terror unit into smithereens.

It is a pity the Mandera heroes did not get screaming newspaper headlines as we see normally when terrorists strike. We have become so used to negative news that we do not even know how to handle good news. We are even making fun of good news.

There is this joke in the social media in the form of breaking news. And what is the news? That a bus from Mandera has arrived safely in Nairobi with all the 60 passengers, a driver, his colleagues and goats intact. This is sad. My good friend Mohammed Hersi has been talking about this.

This negativity is permeating through all spheres of our national life. We scream about corruption but when six cabinet secretaries, nay, a third of the Cabinet lose their jobs in anti-corruption purge, that is not news. We simply focus on who was appointed or not appointed to replace them.

Perhaps the reason we are mean to celebrate the Mandera heroes is because we really do not comprehend how difficult that act was to pull through. When terror strikes, there are normally two victims; the actual victims of terror and the community where the terrorists come from.

When 19 terrorists rammed their hijacked planes into the World Trade Centre in New York on September 11, 2001, I was watching the horror live with my colleagues in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Rumours started coming in that Saudis may have been involved.

I never saw my Saudi friends so distraught than they were that day. The Saudi society even descended into denial. They said there is no way their own sons could have been involved.

Finally, when the confirmation came through that 15 of the 19 hijackers were Saudi nationals sent by Osama Bin Laden, the Kingdom collected itself into believing but also was spurred into a national programme of accepting terror as real, led by the late King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud.

That is how difficult it gets not only to accept that terrorists could be from your own kinsmen but also to do something about it like the Mandera heroes valiantly did.

I am of the view that we need to take advantage of this act to re-launch the Nyumba Kumi campaign. We could have the ceremony take place in Mandera town.

All Kenyans from all regions should be encouraged to travel to Mandera to celebrate this ceremony. That will be an opportunity to pass a message to the terrorists that we will never be divided as a people and a nation. Yes, let’s have a street carnival in Mandera. Let it be a national statement, a vigil and tribute to the Mandera heroes. I wish the National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC) could see this.

Finally, I am happy that, in case we had forgotten, the Mandera heroes have restated what real Islam is. For close to a decade I lived in no less than the host country of the two holy mosques.

I am a fluent speaker of Arabic-the language of the Koran. I can attest to the world that it is not just cliché when we say Islam is a language of love and compassion. And what we saw in Mandera is tones of love and massive compassion.

The writer is Member of Parliament for Gatundu South
Twitter: @HonMoses_Kuria