We have been rudely reminded over the past few days of the existence in Kenya of a ‘Wild West’, where assorted militia reign in the absence of government.
Brazen attacks on security forces shows that the government has completely lost north-western Kenya to the marauding bands.
No modern State can afford to surrender even the tiniest sliver of its territory to armed bandits, cattle rustlers and ethnic militia. To do so amounts to effective surrender of sovereignty and could well be the first indicator of likely collapse of the nation-state.
If armed brigands are allowed to roam with impunity and use police and soldiers for target practice, they will sooner or later come to see themselves as outside the jurisdiction of Kenyan security, administrative and judicial organs.
The authorities must move with urgency to neutralise the armed warriors and re-establish state authority over affected areas in Turkana, West Pokot, Baringo, Samburu and Isiolo counties.
Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i must go beyond the usual warnings and ultimatums and deploy all the forces at his command. The cost of doing nothing will not only be effective surrender but real risk of the armed bands morphing into political armies.
Dr Matiang’i will, of course, need political support to do an effective job, for it is clear that any vigorous security campaign will attract opprobrium from local leaders who profit from insecurity.
There have already been inane arguments that proliferation of assault rifles in the hands of various gangs is just a way of life in those regions and that cattle rustling and ethnic militia are simply cultural practices. We might as well argue that terrorism is also a cultural practice within certain regions and, therefore, should be allowed to thrive.
It may be true that some of those activities have historical roots but the fact now is that cattle rustling has taken on commercial dimensions for the benefit of powerful politicians and merchants.
The armed gangs also increasingly enjoy the patronage of local leaders, who could easily deploy them for political purposes.
The battle to reclaim that part of Kenya could be bloody but that would be a small price to pay if anarchy is to be nipped in the bud. The important thing is that any security operation be conducted in strict conformity with the law and scrupulous observance of human rights.
There must also be a simultaneous campaign to win the hearts and minds of the local people, and this will be best achieved by addressing the root causes of endemic insecurity in those regions dating back to the colonial era.
The fact is that a century of official neglect, marginalisation and denial of development resources reduced vast swathes of Kenya to abject poverty. When the rest of Kenya was marching into the 21st Century, most of northern and eastern Kenya, more than half the country’s land mass, was stuck in Stone Age in terms of access to education, health services, transport infrastructure, piped water, electricity and telecommunications.
The residents of those vast swathes cut off from the rest of Kenya and the outside world actually have every justification to reject the notion of State control. Restoration of security must, therefore, go hand in hand with a massive economic and social ‘Marshall Plan’ for the entire region.
If Tourism Cabinet Secretary Najib Balala expected accolades for getting British supermodel Naomi Campbell to take on the role of Kenya’s tourism ambassador, he must have been taken aback by the vitriol which greeted the decision.
Those who opposed the appointment included leading politicians, academics and professionals, who protested that a foreigner had been picked instead of a Kenyan. Ignorance, shallow thinking and petty nationalism were put on full display.
First, Campbell taking on the role did not come at the expense of any Kenyan celebrity or sporting superstar. There is room for more than one — and, indeed, marathon world record holder Eliud Kipchoge is already on the roster of Kenyan brand ambassadors.
Secondly, though past her catwalk prime, Campbell is still a global superstar whose every move is followed avidly by entertainment media in Europe and the United States. We can be sure that her gratis work will earn Kenya invaluable publicity in those key tourism source markets.
When we decide to more seriously market our tourism in Asia, the logical thing would be to enlist the support of leading Bollywood and Chinese action movie stars. They will generate more publicity than money can buy.
