Terrorism: Why we remain unbowed

The recent terror attack in Lahore, Pakistan that left 29 children dead and a nation mourning is unfortunately too close to Kenya’s reality.

This April, Kenya marks the one year anniversary of the Garissa University terror attack, where 142 of our own children, were mercilessly gunned down by Al-Shabaab terrorists. The tally of victims of terror attacks, compounded with the tragic losses we have suffered in the security forces in the fight against extremists is a sobering reminder to all of us that our country needs us to rally together in a spirit of brotherhood and unity, to protect our social fabric and our future.

The function of terror attacks is to spread fear, mistrust, disillusion, hopelessness and ultimately to fragment the entire nation.

The fanatical opposition presented by terror outfits such as al-Shabaab to our very conscience and psychology cannot be allowed to dominate our memories, or our contemporary view of who we are.

It is true that the government must and should do everything within its capabilities to provide security, and the formation of several security task forces, the recruiting of more police, and the enhancement of investigative and prosecutorial mechanisms that deal with terror related crimes is welcome.

But for far too long we have allowed ourselves to be consumed by petty politics; nit-picking and exaggerating our differences based on entirely ethnically-centred squabbles to a point of fragmenting our national fabric and weakening the government.

The entire world is now faced with this enemy; this is no longer about simple misconstruing of groups rights to self-determination in a society, but this is about a perverse logic that is seeping dangerously into our collective psyche.

The president has honoured Mr Salah Farah, who in the face of violence sacrificed his own life to protect Christians during a terror attack on a bus headed to Mandera. Mr Farah embodies the sort of character that our national conscience has cultivated, and his strong Islamic faith and its true nature of peace, tolerance and protection of others in the community will forever be a part of us.

Let us use our democracy to build upon the great and humbling spirit of service displayed by our fallen soldiers and heroes like Mr Salah.

Let us use the democratic spaces we have at our disposal to entrench a commonality, and a cohesive conscience in the knowledge that greater inclusivity ultimately creates greater security.

It is important for us to begin to explore how through the very democracy and unity of state that terrorists wish to tear apart, we can find reason, seek peace, understanding and protection of our citizens.

The power we wield is incredible, and it is most certainly a threat to malcontents.

The power of being one Kenyan, a believer in the truth of one’s’ faith, whichever it is and to show no fear in the face of incredible danger has already been demonstrated by our hero, Salah Farah, the students we lost, and by the soldiers who continue to risk their lives to protect us, in Somalia.

Let us remind ourselves that Kenya’s diversity is ultimately its strength.

It is up to us to emulate Mr Salah’s example of faith and love, and to responsibly wield our democratic power to not only build upon the now bloodied foundations set by those who have died in the face of terrorism, but to enhance our stability and seek peaceful engagement, leaving behind pettiness, division and hatred and embracing a new spirit of transformation that will define Kenya for centuries to come.