The failed State and terrorism (1)

Saturday, 17 July 2010 13:24 By Evarist Kagaruki

The bomb blasts in Kampala last Sunday, which killed more than 76 people and seriously injured many others, has been widely condemned around the world. This is as it should be since terrorism, in all its manifestations, is a scourge that threatens humanity; it takes away the lives of innocent people (like those that were bombed while watching the World Cup finals), including children. It is something that no sane person can condone.The Kampala horrible incident for which the Somali Islamist insurgent group, Al-Shabaab, has claimed responsibility (they say it was in retaliation for the presence of Ugandan troops in Somalia), evokes very sad memories of the simultaneous Al-Qaeda-directed US Embassy explosions in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam in 1998. It is also a shrewd reminder that our borders are still permeable by terrorists; and that our region is still a target for terrorist attacks. For this reason, East Africans need to be on the alert, always conscious that the region remains insecure as long as Somalia continues to be under the rule of the gun with no prospects for peace and stability in sight. There is a need for the people of this region to be vigilant to ensure the security of not only their borders but also their homelands.The Al-Shabaab terrorist attack could not have been more ill-timed. It occurred at a time when Africans were in a frenzy, celebrating the historic success of the World Cup which was held for the first time on the African soil.It was also during the finals of the world’s most prestigious and popular event which, this time round, had been the African pride, especially because of the incredible way in which it was organised by the South Africans. Second, the attack came as Uganda was putting final touches on the preparations for the AU summit and a continental youth conference on the sidelines of the main event. Certainly, the aim of the terrorists was to disrupt these preparations by intimidating the hosts as well as the guests. Besides, the bombings happened just about two weeks after the meeting of East African defence chiefs on the Somali issue: they discussed the question of deploying an additional 2,000 troops to bring the AMISOM force level for Mogadishu to 8,100 peacekeepers (read: peace-enforcers, as there is no peace to keep in Somalia); it was also about a week after leaders of the regional grouping Igad had met in Addis Ababa to deliberate on the continuing political instability in the war-torn country. So, the Islamists must have been under intense psychological pressure when they decided to descend on Kampala with bombs.But while the world has expressed shock and sadness at, as well as condemnation of, the terrorist attack on innocent Ugandan civilians, it should be pointed out that the international community, and more specifically the UN, bears responsibility for the Ugandan tragedy because it has neglected Somalia. The country has, since the overthrow of  Mohammed Siyad Barre in January 1991, been without a functioning government; it is beleaguered by civil war that has persisted for two decades without any serious efforts on the part of the world body to bring it to an end. Yet, Somalia, though stateless, is a member of the organisation.Of course a few attempts have been made towards addressing the Somali question, but without success. The failure surprises no one because the initiatives were rather erratic, and were based on a wrong political approach; wrong in several ways but the most prominent one being the seemingly agreed policy in the West, shared by some of Somalia’s neighbours (particularly Ethiopia), that a radical Islamist Somalia was not acceptable. The Somali Transitional Federal Government (TFG) cobbled in Nairobi in 2004 (with the help of Igad and US support) was conceived on the basis of that “principle”; its set up was designed to bring together warlords who had, since the ouster of Barre, been competing for the control of Mogadishu to share power, to the exclusion of “extremist” Islamic elements who also want a slice of the “political cake” in Somalia.

The consequence of this kind of power configuration has been the upsurge in Islamist insurgency, terrorism and piracy.

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