KDF withdrawal from Somalia ‘will not stop attacks’

Withdrawal of the Kenya Defence Forces contingents from Somalia is unlikely to stop terrorist attacks as the Al-Shabaab group is already deeply entrenched in Kenya, a new report on national security status says.

Instead, the report released last week, proposes that Kenya’s ongoing commitment should be focused on enhancing global and local initiatives to stabilise Somalia.

“By exiting Somalia at this time, this may deprive Kenya’s national security managers of vital information required to protect Kenya’s domestic and regional interests.

“But concerns about whether Kenya should withdraw or not from military operations alongside other Amisom members as a result of Al-Shabaab threats and Kenya Defence Force fatalities are legitimate,” observes the report released last week by Think Security Africa (TSA), an independent group specialising in security in Africa.

But TSA says that Kenya needs to decide whether the current internal security challenges are best served by a military response or whether a long term goal of stabilising Somalia and the long-term benefits that would follow should take precedence.

The report giving credence to continued stay by the KDF in Somalia is coming at a time when the issue is generating heated debate in Kenya after a series of attacks linked to the terrorist group Al-Shabaab.

CORD leader Raila Odinga has been calling for the withdrawal of KDF from Somalia saying they have accomplished what they went to do.

DESTROY AL SHABAAB

Mr Odinga said the reason why the Government decided to send troops to Somalia was to destroy the Al-Shabaab cell that was also being used to plan attacks in Kenya.

“We agreed with retired President Mwai Kibaki to send our forces there because the terror group had become the biggest threat to our internal security.
“They have done that and as far as we are concerned they no longer have business there,” Raila has been quoted on several occasions.
Instead of staying in Somalia, the troops should come back and beef up security in the country adding that it is in Kenya where there are serious security problems, he said.

President Uhuru Kenyatta on the other hand has insisted that he has no intention of withdrawing the troops from the war torn country until they accomplish their mission.

TSA highly rates Kenya as a regional hub meaning that the importance of security in Kenya for regional development makes security a regional concern.

Existing security concerns, TSA notes, need to be assessed against a backdrop of changing political realities in Kenya, with devolution which is expected to produce medium to long-term development dividends to Kenyans coming into sharp focus.

“Kenya plays a key role for sub-regional trade and logistics, and this role is set to expand with the inception of Lamu Port and Southern Sudan – Ethiopia Transport (LAPSSET) Corridor .

“While devolution from eight provinces to 47 counties is intended to bring governance closer to the people, it also makes it more feasible for the current spate of terrorist attacks (and radicalisation within Kenya) to evolve into an insurgency – as there are now almost eight times as many governmental targets to attack,” reveals the report.

The report observes that the current insecurity in form of terrorist attacks and localised conflicts are posing the most significant threat to Nairobi, Lamu, Mombasa, Turkana, Garissa, Wajir and Mandera counties.

“The recently reported cases of violence along the Coast of Kenya have had tangible impact on communities such as those in Mpeketoni. However the most serious concern remains the ideological shift that is radicalising youths.

Source: Daily Nation