How to defeat Al Shabaab

By Nodin Muzee

I read a recent article in the New York Times in which it outlined the Kenyan government’s plans on building a security wall spanning 700km (440 miles) along the border with Somalia.

Whilst this idea has the intention of stopping terrorists from crossing the border, it is very simplistic in assuming that this measure alone will stop terrorist attacks.

For a very long time, Kenya’s counter terrorism strategy has been fragmented and incoherent. It has lacked the vigor and focus to neutralize the threat from Al-Shabaab .

Such situations require that you appoint a counter terrorism coordinator also known as a Czar. They would be in charge of a joint task force which would encompass various government agencies such as representatives from the central bank, police, internal and external intelligence, military, Interpol, security vetted religious scholars. Given the complex nature of combating terrorism, this requires a multi-pronged, multi-layered response from the various agencies that are working in a cohesive manner regarding one common goal, hence the need for such a task force.

At the heart of any successful counter terrorism strategy is the need to positively influence the “hearts and minds” of  the population. As a government you have to ask yourself whether or not your doing all you can in eradicating the social ills that help breed terrorism, such as unemployment, religious intolerance, wide spread mistrust and corruption of the security agencies by the public, the marginalization of some parts of the population.

A case in point is the Dabaab refugee camp in Northern Kenya which houses 350,000 Somalia’s displaced by years of war. It is claimed that the terrorists that amounted the attack on Garissa University College at some point hide in this camp. The Kenyan government has told the United Nations that it wants this camp moved out of Kenya within 3 months.

This kind of action can only further alienate parts of the population. This will breed more anger and resentment and drive young men and women into the arms of terrorist recruiters. The majority of these refugees are innocent and have no links to terrorism. A truly visionary counter terrorism strategy would develop a long term plan to house, educate, and employ these refugees, eventually at some point integrating them into Kenyan society by giving them citizenship.

Treating these refugees with the respect and dignity they deserve  can only earn you the respect and admiration of the population and the wider international community. Most importantly, this would deny Al-Shabaab potential recruits and would give you 350,000 new citizens, who when called upon in helping stop terrorism, will gladly do so by passing on intelligence information regarding terrorists operating in their midst.

Finally, the fact remains, if Somalia is to become a stable and developed country, Somalia’s will have to take ownership of their countries political destiny and no amount of external interference will ever achieve this.

The writer is a risk management professional


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