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Thursday, October 27, 2011
Dear Mr Wetangula,
Equally, President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed is asking for something he can’t have. For sure it is his right and the right of his country to decide who goes to Somalia and for what purpose.
It will, of course, not be lost on Kenyans that the leaders of a country to which they have been so generous – hosting millions of its citizens, allowing Somali to become part of the Kenyan social fabric, spending tax money on the Somali peace process – has turned round and now says Kenyans are unwanted in their territory.
The attitude, however, need not be a deal-breaker. It is an opportunity for negotiations and the hammering out of an agreement acceptable to both sides. Such negotiations would take place within the context of continued joint security operations.
It would be unthinkable for Kenya to leave Somalia with its tail between its legs. Kenya can only withdraw under circumstances of total and complete victory.
However, if the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia wants Kenya to cease the joint military operation, you should probably consider doing so if President Ahmed and his government can deliver the following:
First, there must be an end to terrorist incursions and infiltration. For that to happen, there must be no Al-Shabaab within 100 miles of the Kenyan border.
That region, stretching from the Indian Ocean to the Ethiopian border, must be stabilised by a self-governing local population, not by some Al-Qaeda-brainwashed warlord in Mogadishu.
Secondly, having secured that region, all refugee camps must be moved there and proper infrastructure, including security, provided for them. In the fullness of time, all must be re-integrated into Somali society.
The sustained 20-year export of population to Kenya must be not just stemmed, it must be reversed for the long-term welfare of both nations.
Thirdly, the port of Kismayu, a nest of terrorism since the 1990s, must be taken and put in the hands of a responsible civilian authority.
Such an authority must have the capacity to end smuggling and to run the port for the benefit of the people of Somalia, not warlords and international buccaneers in Dubai and Nairobi.
Fourth, the bases used by pirates must be taken by forces of law and order and the death penalty imposed and enforced for piracy.
The penalty should apply not just to the men under arms, but also to the corrupt government officials as well as lawyers and companies in the region who facilitate and/or profit from piracy.
Finally, the TFG, in an acceptable format, should offer instruments of guarantee of Somalia’s respect for the territorial integrity of its neighbours, particularly Kenya and Uganda.
***
I am trying to put myself in the feet of some terribly young Kenyan being eaten by mosquitoes in the mud of central Somalia, facing a vicious, brutal enemy.
The only thing that keeps his spirits up is the thought that he is fighting for his country, that his countrymen will be grateful for it and honour him, and that if he is killed, they will give him a decent burial and comfort his mother.
The most disheartening thing for him is to be abandoned by those for whom he believes to be fighting for.
We can debate the rationale for the war, we can even discuss tactics on the pages of the New York Timesas some retired generals are doing.
But our thoughts and support must remain with those young people, we must continue to demand that they be given everything they need to win the war and keep safe.
One day some years back when the US embassy issued an advisory asking its citizens to keep off downtown hotels for fear of a terrorist attack, a former British High Commissioner, Sir Edward Clay, took a walk on Kenyatta Avenue and enjoyed a nice cup of tea at The Stanley.
An eloquent man, Sir Edward.
The intention of Al-Shabaab is to terrify us. The only way to defeat them is by not being afraid and getting on with our lives.
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