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ABSTRACT
Kenya is a victim of transnational terrorism. As a response, the government in Nairobi has adopted numerous measures including legislation, the establishment of security organs to police the menace, building a border wall between Kenya and Somalia, attempts to repeal the 2006 Refugee Act and close refugee camps, efforts to prevent and counter violent extremism, and community policing. However, in spite of these activities, acts of terror and violent extremism continue to pose a threat to Kenya’s national security, which begs the question, ‘Is counter-terrorism as practised by Kenya counterproductive? The Critical Terrorism Studies (CTS) model guides this study. The analysis concludes that terrorism will remain a concern for Kenya as long as there is failure to appropriately calibrate its counter-terrorism strategy, and as long as regional sources of terrorism, such as instability in Somalia, remain unaddressed.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.
Notes
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27 This attack comprised of a land-based suicide operation, use of grenades and firearms as well as targeting an airplane with surface-to-air missiles.
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35 Formed in 1984 following the merger of two Salafi organisations, Al Jama’a Al Islamiya and Wahdat Al Shabaab Al Islam.
36 Third President of the Somali Democratic Republic who ruled from 1969 before a coup evicted from power in 1991.
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137 Aggrey Mutambo, ‘Kenya Threatens to Pull Troops out of Somalia,’ Daily Nation, May 22, 2016.
138 John Mutua, ‘Uhuru to Retain KDF in Somalia as Treasury Cuts Soldiers’ Budget,’ Daily Nation, November 8, 2018.
139 The UK, the FGS, the UN and the AU co-chaired the one-day conference.
140 Government of the United Kingdom, ‘London Somalia Conference 2017: Communiqué,’ 11 May 2017. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/london-somalia-conference-2017-communique (accessed January 12, 2021).
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142 UN, S/RES/2372 (2017), August 30, 2017. https://www.un.org/press/en/2017/sc12972.doc.htm (accessed August 12, 2020).
143 ‘Q & A: Somalia Charts Security Transition,’ The Africa Centre for Strategic Studies, July 17, 2018. https://africacenter.org/spotlight/qa-somalia-charts-security-transition/ (accessed August 13, 2020).
144 UN, S/RES/2431 (2018) July 30, 2018. https://www.un.org/press/en/2018/sc13439.doc.htm (accessed August 12, 2020).
145 UN, SRES/2472 (2019), May 31, 2019. https://www.un.org/press/en/2019/sc13828.doc.htm (accessed August 12, 2020).
146 African Union (AU), ‘Communiqué of the 923rd Online Meeting of the PSC on the Situation in Somalia and Renewal of the AMISOM Mandate,’ May 7, 2020, 2. https://reliefweb.int/report/somalia/communiqu-923rd-online-meeting-psc-situation-somalia-and-renewal-amisom-mandate (accessed August 12, 2020).
147 Samuel Okiror, ‘Countdown to AMISOM: Is Somalia Ready?’ The New Humanitarian, February 28, 2017. https://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/fr/node/259323 (accessed August 12, 2020).
148 AU, ‘Communiqué of the 923rd Online Meeting of the PSC on the Situation in Somalia and Renewal of the AMISOM Mandate,’ 2–3.
149 AU, ‘Communiqué of the 923rd Online Meeting of the PSC.’
150 UN, S/RES/2520 (2020), May 29, 2020. http://unscr.com/files/2020/02520.pdf (accessed August 12, 2020).
151 ‘Westgate Attack: MPs to Call for Refugee Camps to Close,’ BBC, September 30, 2013. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-24339508 (accessed July 29, 2020).
152 Eastleigh is located within Nairobi County and is known as Little Mogadishu due to the large number of Somalis, both local and refugees, who live and work there.
153 Kenya National Assembly, Report of the Joint Committee on Administration and National Security; and Defense and Foreign Relations, 8.
154 Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA), Monitoring Report on Operation Sanitization Eastleigh Publically known as ‘Usalama Watch’, (July 2014), 2.
155 Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR), Return of the Gulag, Report of KNCHR Investigations on Operation Usalama Watch, (July 2014): 3.
156 Amnesty International, ‘Somalis Scapegoated in Counter-Terror Crackdown,’ May 27, 2014. https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2014/05/kenya-somalis-scapegoated-counter-terror-crackdown/ (accessed August 29, 2020).
157 IPOA, Monitoring Report on Operation Sanitization Eastleigh, 12–3.
158 ‘The Principle of non-refoulement under International Human Rights Law,’ Office of the High Commission on Human Rights (OHCHR). https://www.ohcr.org/Documents/Issues/Migration/GlobalCompactMigration/ThePRincipleNon-RefoulementUnderInternationalHumanrRightsLaw.pdf (accessed April 23, 2021).
159 Amnesty International, ‘Somalis Scapegoated in Counter-Terror Crackdown,’; ‘Ngwalito Mawiyoo, ‘You are all Terrorists: The ‘Sanitization’ of a Nairobi Suburb,’ Creative Time Reports, July 29, 2015. https://www.creativetimereprots.org/2015/07/29/ngwalito-mawiyoo-you-are-all-terrorists/ (accessed January 13, 2021).
160 KNCHR, Return of the Gulag, 4.
161 The following attacks all took place within Nairobi. On 23 April 2014, a car exploded at Pangani Police station killing four occupants. On 4 May 2014, on Thika Highway, bombs exploded in two commuter buses killing three passengers. On 16 May 2014, at Gikomba Market, the biggest second hand clothes market in the country, twin bombs were detonated killing 10.
162 ‘Kenya’s Nairobi Hit by Twin Bomb Blasts in Gikomba Market,’ BBC, May 16, 2014. http://www.bbc.com/nes/world-africa-27443474 (accessed November 20, 2017).
163 Janice Sanya, ‘Boni Campaign: Five Years on,’ HORN: International Institute for Strategic Studies, October 17, 2017. https://horninstitute.org/boni-campaign-five-years-on/ (accessed April 26, 2019).
164 Suspected al-Shabaab carried out a series of attacks between June and July 2014 starting at Mpeketoni, a predominantly Christian town, in Lamu County in the Coast region. By the time the attacks were over, more than 70 people had lost their lives with many others displaced from their homes as they fled to avoid death.
165 Fred Mukinda, ‘Troops to Pitch Tent in Boni Forest until 2017,’ Daily Nation, November 16, 2015.
166 Kalume Kazungu, ‘Four Shabaab Militants Killed in Linda Boni Operation,’ Nation, November 19, 2018.
167 Christopher Anzalone, ‘Addressing the Enemy: Al-Shabaab’s PSYOPS Media Warfare,’ CTC Sentinel, March 2020: 31. https://ctc.usma.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/CTC-SENTINEL-032020.pdf (accessed April 23, 2021).
168 Brendon John Cannon, ‘Terrorists, Geopolitics and Kenya’s Proposed Border Wall with Somalia,’ Journal of Terrorism Research 7, no. 2 (May 2016): 26.
169 ‘Kenya’s Anti-Terror Border Wall Heated Debate,’ The New Humanitarian, April 17, 2015.https://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/news/2015/04/17/kenya-s-anti-terror-border-wall-sparks-heated-debate (accessed August 18, 2020).
170 Edwin Mutai, ‘Nkaissery Denies Kenya is Building Sh20bn Border Wall,’ Business Daily, May 4, 2015.
171 ‘Kenya/Somalia Border Wall Brought Down,’ Kenya News Agency, April 27, 2019. https://www.kenyanews.go.ke/kenya-somalia-border-wall-brought-down/ (accessed April 23, 2021).
172 Patrick Vidija, ‘Kenya Suspends Construction of Somalia Border Wall to Ease Tensions,’ The Star, March 31, 2018.
173 ‘Scandal over Kenya’s Border Fence that Cost $35m for Just 10km,’ BBC, March 14, 2019. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-47574463 (accessed August 18, 2020).
174 Kalume Kazungu, ‘Kenya Plans to Reopen Border with Somalia,’ Daily Nation, June 20, 2020.
175 Republic of Kenya, National Strategy to Counter Violent Extremism (NSCVE), August 2016, 3.
176 Republic of Kenya, NSCVE, xvi.
177 Republic of Kenya, NSCVE.
178 Arigatou International/GNRC, ‘Building Resilience against Violent Extremism (BRAVE).’ https://gnrc.net/en/11-what-we-do/4049-brave-building-resilience-against-violent-extremism (accessed July 29, 2020).
179 Republic of Kenya, NSCVE, 14.
180 Republic of Kenya & Human Rights Agenda (HURIA), Kwale County Plan for Countering Violent Extremism (KCPCVE),’ February 2017, 4.
181 ‘Preventing Violent Extremism: Lessons From Kenya,’ Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University, (January 2020), 24. https://www.issuu.com/woodrowwilsonschool/docs/preventing_violent_extremism (accessed January 13, 2021).
182 ‘Preventing Violent Extremism: Lessons From Kenya,’ Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, 31.
183 KNCHR, Return of the Gulag, 6.
184 Cyrus Ombati, ‘Kenya Announces Amnesty and Reintegration to Youth who Denounce Al-Shabaab,’ The Standard, April 14, 2015.
185 Ombati, ‘Kenya Announces Amnesty.’
186 Dominic Pkalya, ‘Reasons Why the Amnesty for “Reformed” Al Shabaab Returnees is Failing Security in Kwale,’ The Standard, June 9, 2016.
187 Stephen Oduor, ‘The Dilemma Facing Terror Returnees,’ Daily Nation, August 24, 2020.
188 Daniel Wesangula, ‘The Unseen War,’ The Standard, February 13, 2019.
189 Following successful terror attacks, the Kenyan security agencies descend on regions where suspected terrorists come from, including NER and the Coast, where they conduct retaliatory raids that lead to arbitrary arrests, loss of life and damage to property.
190 Oduor, ‘The Dilemma Facing Terror Returnees.’
191 Oduor, ‘The Dilemma.’
192 Calvin Onsarigo, ‘Haki Africa Demands Probe into Killings of al-Shabaab Returnees,’ The Star, February 28, 2018.
193 ‘Kenya Court Rules Haki Africa and MHR not Terrorists,’ BBC, June 11, 2015. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-33092786 (accessed April 23, 2021).
194 In February 2016, according to the Kenyan government, an estimate of 1,500 youth had surrendered.
195 Richard Downie, ‘Kenya’s Struggling Amnesty Experiment: The Policy Challenge of Rehabilitating Former Terrorists,’ Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), October 26, 2018. https://www.csis.org/analysis/kenyas-struggling-amnesty-experiment-policy-challenge-rehabilitating-former-terrorists (accessed October 30, 2018).
196 Downie, ‘Kenya’s Struggling Amnesty Experiment.’
197 Frankline Sunday, ‘Ratio of Kenya Police Officers to Civilians Overstated,’ The Standard, August 15, 2017.
198 Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), Preventing Terrorism and Countering Violent Extremism and Radicalisation that Lead to Terrorism: A Community-Policing Approach, (OSCE; Vienna, 2014), 61. https://www.osce.org/files/f/documents/1/d/111438.pdf (accessed August 18, 2018).
199 Eric Mutisya Kioko, ‘Conflict Resolution and Crime Surveillance in Kenya: Local Peace Committees and Nyumba Kumi,’ Africa Spectrum 53, no. 1 (2017): 22.
200 Wamaitha Ndono, Nzioka John Muthama and Kariuki Muigua, ‘Effectiveness of the Nyumba Kumi Community Policing Initiative in Kenya,’ Journal of Sustainability, Environment and Peace 1, no. 2 (2019): 66.
201 Joseph Kivunzi and Mumo Nzau, ‘An Evaluation of the Effectiveness and Challenges of Counterterrorism Strategies in Kenya,’ International Journal of Social and Development Concerns 2, no. 2/11 (March 2018).
202 Juliet Kamau, ‘Kenya’s Response to Terrorism: 1976-2017’, 312.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Juliet Wambui Kamau
Dr Juliet Kamau has been in the field of security for over fifteen years, first as a security analyst working for the government of Kenya and as an independent security consultant. She has two degrees from the United States International University, Africa (BA and PhD in International Relations) and a Masters of Arts in International Political Economy from University of Warwick, in the UK. Her academic interests are in Salafi-Jihadism, counter-terrorism, P/CVE, and the emerging collusion between organised criminal gangs and jihadists at the Kenyan Coast.