Matters arising from latest Blowback of Kenyan State Clientism

Introduction

The media has been abuzz in the last 2 weeks with the targeted attack on a select target in Kenya by Somalia’s non-state violence purveyor, Al-Shabab.  Apart from the usual media razzmatazz, there were important issues already on operation before the attack with potential to re-occur in future. These issues are part of Kenya’s DNA. With the media circus out of the way it is justified to highlight this incident based on world-system framework and invisibility periscope.

Foreign Policy Agenda

Kenya is an interesting place and a periphery country despite her potentials. It is one of the few African countries where the military has never tasted power so far since independence. However despite her painful independence struggle against the British who unleashed genocide as fallout of world war experience, Nairobi political elite has constituently maintained a pro-Western foreign policy which was consolidated towards Washington DC under Mr Daniel Arap Moi. He sedimented Nairobi’s role in geopolitics as a client state of United States and her remora (UK) which managed Nairobi desk in the face of sustained US ambivalent African policy.

This meant that US interest in the proximity of East Africa and the Horn is likely to be facilitated unchallenged by Nairobi and this was the case in the 1970s and 1980s. The collapse of USSR opened her to competitors as Ethiopia swung around with the flight of Col Mengistu, the revival of Entebbe under Mr Museveni and lately Kigali post-genocide.  Nevertheless it has been a refreshing and calm neighbourhood. Nairobi proved her mettle in facilitating Israeli raid on Entebbe that refuelled in Nairobi on the rift-valley radar evading mission. Ex-president Kibaki and current president Mr Kenyatta have not departed from this foreign policy orientation.

Somalia Factor

Funny enough Somalia is one of those countries or political spaces one expects to have political stability in the possession of a common language and a population consisting of one people divided between 2 clans. Some of these family members extend into Kenya and Ethiopia as a result of Berlin Conference inconsideration but adhered-to boundary delineations. Somalia is not and has never been a security/strategic threat to Nairobi even with the collapse of Said Barre’s government, the last government in Somalia for decades.

Kenyan political elite are aware of this dimension however for parochial interest in personal enhancement blindly pursue a policy that placed Somalia or Somalis as enemies.  The ill-fated assault of Mogadishu (mineral resources) by US led troops in early 1990s led Washington DC to go ‘lite’ by ushering clients like Nairobi to carry the burden, to fulfil no-boots-on-the-ground. By accepting this poisoned chalice, Kenyan political and foreign policy experts opened a can of worms whose dividends can only be exhausted violently by time. There is no reason or interest for Kenya in Somalia. Somalia is not a threat to Nairobi and any military engagement or invasion of the former by the latter is bound to blowback contrary to attribution to corruption by select western armchair ‘analysts’.

Blowback Party a la Nairobi

Nairobi’s dalliance in clientism has brought a number of dividends. Unfortunately the violent dividends has been selective in the victims that are targeted. The 1998 explosion of Nairobi US embassy is an example where common people rather than the elites bore the brunt of reverse attack on non-independent non-state violence purveyors.  Importantly target locations are always upscale and swanky locations with high proportion of elite (core) investments that target ordinary people (periphery) disposable income. In the US embassy case, most of the dead were ordinary people who have nothing to do against Somalia. The latest attach bears the mark of targeted high investment location of used dependents on common people for profit.

Targeting the rich and powerful is not usually the case for avengers with limited resources. Funny enough when the news reached the airwaves, the body counts highlights those of foreigners while that of Kenyans are counted as given. Orientalism in practice! Al-Shabab can never invade Kenya rather in their bid to attack symbols of Kenya power and prowess, ordinary innocent Kenyans will be caught down. These Kenyans are different and reside farther away from the rich and powerful unlike the line taken by the foreign minister who careers placed her outside more than inside the country for nearly 3 decades.

Powerful Enemy within

No matter how much this latest incident is spun it remains in the background of violence in Kenya a minor spur.  State and elite-sponsored violence in Kenya is a matter that apparently took over from British pre-independence national security initiatives. Various governments from Jomo Kenyatta promoted law & order which is another guise to arrest, torture, imprison indefinitely and genocide. Mr Daniel Arap Moi turned it into a national past-time as repression, mass arrest, mass imprisonment and genocide because first line of citizens handling. The 1984 Wajir massacre by Kenyan security forces under Mr Moi made global headlines with over 400 men killed. Other massacres include Malkameri in 1996, Garissa in 1980, Madogashe in 1982 and Bagala in 1989.

By coincidence, most of the victims are ethnic Somalis. Till today there is no record of comprehensive investigation and retribution.  A sitting Foreign Minister, Dr Robert Ouko was cut down by invisible hands of the state he served as her top diplomat. One of the foremost Kenya’s writers, Ngugi wa Thiongo, himself a victim of state repression, is probably one of the lucky ones alive. Even the election war of 2007/8 took more lives of ordinary Kenyans at the instigation of their powerful compatriots. So we argue that Kenya’s enemy is not anyone in the neighborhood, or Al-Qaida or Al-Shabab. No amount of media spotlight will hide this crucial fact nor standing shoulder-to-shoulder with the hegemon can obliterate the cry of innocent blood shed by kenya’s elite.