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| In 2011, Kenyan troops took the anti-terrorism war into Somalia. Kenyan Somalis have been victims of terrorism |
When I started working, even before
I got my first pay, I acquired my first jacket from a Somali trader. But this could
not just pass as any other acquisition. It was the only way I retained my
maiden teaching job, for it required one to dress formally, in a suit.
It was not only the
pocket-friendly prices that earned Rashid Omar loyal customers amongst Makindu
residents, but also his allowing customers, even first time customers, acquire
stuff and pay for them later at their paces. How could he just trust us? From
the ingenuity and resilience of this trader one could hardly tell that he
belonged to the most marginalized community in Kenya.
None of the Kenyan communities
has experienced half the suffering that the Somalis have gone through. Kenyan
Somalis have been marginalized for decades. Only for the world to train its
cameras there when famine wrecks havoc in their midst, or terrorists kill and
abduct residents of Garissa, Wajir.
Explaining this state of affairs
is deep-seated suspicion, engineered and let to brew for eons. British colonialists
feared that dealing with Kenyan Somalis would pose administrative challenges.
This constituency could become slippery, and easily ebb into Somaliland, they
opined. Ever since, Kenyan Somalis have
been discriminated against.
Today, Kenyan Somalis pass as dubious,
foreigners, and terrorists. That it is relatively difficult for Somalis to
acquire national identification documents complicates the maze. Desperate to enroll
for social services, and register businesses, those who are capable result to
bribing authorities to acquire these essential documents.
Paradoxically, this
marginalization by the state peaked immediately Kenya became independent from
its colonial masters in the 1960s. In 1984, the government of the day oversaw
the beating, raping and killing of over 5000 Somalis in what became the Wagalla
Massacre. Chilling survivor stories in Mohammed Adow’s Not Yet Kenya posit that Kenyan authorities tossed bodies of the
Somalis who succumbed the gory atrocities into Tana River. None of the
successive regimes has shown any resolve to recognize Somalis as Kenyans
enough.
Kenyatta’s administration
effectively thwarted the miniature efforts to serve justice on the Somalis
gained during the Kibaki regime. It is common knowledge that the editing and
shelving of the Truth Justice and Reconciliation Commission (TJRC) Report
spells doom for any prospects of serving justice to the perpetrators of the
Wagalla Massacre. The international community has not been helpful, either.
IGAD, often bragging as the
institution solely responsible for ensuring that Somalis remain on the global
map, has had nothing to show for championing for the cause of the Somalis. The
clamor by Ambassador Mahmoud Maalim, IGAD’s Executive Secretary in a Nairobi forum
in November that IGAD is committed to ensuring peace and stability in Somali
flies in the face of the reality on the ground. Just like IGAD, the global community
has been consistent in scapegoating Somalis for insecurity and terrorism, a
precursor for collective punishment.
Imposition of the Hawala system
by the United States and other Western bigwigs is the height of the
affliction of the Somalis. The wisdom behind this ban in international money
transfer is that Somalis living in diaspora are the financiers of terrorism. How
careless!
Drawing the line between
terrorism and a community is a no brainer. In fact, Somalis have become the
greatest victims of terrorism activities in the region. Not so long ago, a
grenade hurled at bus in Pangani, Nairobi left seven people dead, four of them
Somalis. But the world would stop at nothing to use the thickest of brushes to
tar Somali, justifying the imposition of collective punishment.
Just like denying Somalis
national identity cards and branding them terrorists, taming the transfer of
funds to the ubiquitous Somali families located in Somalia, and Kenya, for
instance, the world is uniting in ensuring that future Somali generations do
not acquire education. Under development in North Eastern Kenya greets
travelers.
Naturally, this turn of events breeds
anger and frustration among ordinary Somali folk, scholars, diplomats,
journalists and politicians. Telling from the ensuing antagonism, things are no
longer rosy. When, for instance, Dr. Ibrahim Farah of the University of Nairobi
describes the AU mission in Somali as a “proliferation of mafia groups,” it is
clear that all is not well.
In a recent forum in Nairobi,
Mymunah Mohamed, a Somali entrepreneur felt that the current Somali leadership
is to blame for complacency. Mohamed is not alone. More Kenyan Somalis support
the thesis that Somalis are to blame for their woes. Emerging from this is that
the problem facing the Kenyan Somali is amorphous and calls for concerted
efforts. Ironically, having Somali
leaders in leading coalitions does little to ameliorate the state of the Kenyan
Somali.
If the Kenyatta administration is
determined to bring social harmony in Kenya, its 2014 resolution should be
serving justice to the Kenyan Somalis. To make this happen, the state should
encourage efforts that go into reversing the suspicion on the Somalis. It could
start by allowing more Somalis to sit in the committees steering the LAPPSET
project.
Among the most sustainable ways
of taming terrorism is by taking Kenyan Somalis onboard. Judging from its
geographical spread on a cultural watershed, this community can be resourceful
as a human barrier, and through community policing, wade off insurgents
infiltrating through the precarious Kenya-Somalia border. However, this
anti-terror approach cannot work when suspicion against the Kenyan Somalis
reigns. Failure to address injustice amongst Somalis, the Kenya government is setting
a dangerous precedence.
Meanwhile, according to Adow,
Kenyan Somalis are learning a lot from their kin in Somalia. For instance, they
are learning to become more aggressive. One
can only hope that this translates into the acquisition of rare business acumen
and resilience exhibited by Rashid Omar as he transverses the dusty sunbaked Makindu market, carrying with him loads of apparel, jewelry and perfumery.
