Counterterrorism in Kenya: Security Aid, Impunity and Muslim Alienation

This article explores the relationship between Kenya and the Global War on Terror (GWOT) insofar as it relates to national politics, regional security, and the international community. The author first examines the historical context of Kenya's relationship with terrorism on a domestic level, then offers a profile for past and future perpetrators, and lastly explains the reasons that Kenya is a common and attractive target to terrorists. Specifically analyzing criminological and root cause theories while taking into account inherent policy flaws, the author seeks to offer insight into the importance of Kenya's anti-terrorism strategy in maintaining global security.

2015

Berent LaBrecque majors in history and political science at Boston College as a member of the class of 2015, where he is a member of the National History Honor Society, Phi Alpha Theta. His broad research interests are religious political activism, international human rights, models of post-conflict justice and reconciliation, and the intersection of peace, security, and development in the Global South. His piece “What Comes After Authoritarian Regimes? ” was

This essay examines U.S. security aid to Kenya, the experiences of those affected by counterterrorism initiatives, and the ways in which Kenya’s internal sociopolitical dynamics shape America’s counterterrorism agenda. U.S. counterterrorism strategy on the African continent entails the coordination of diplomatic pressures and aid-related incentives. In response to multiple terrorist attacks and American stimulus, Kenyan authorities have expanded their efforts to apprehend violent extremists, yet these efforts have led to a variety of human rights abuses while exacerbating historical frictions between the Kenyan government and minority Muslim communities. Evidence from Kenya suggests that unless U.S. policymakers and their African allies address the social tensions upon which counterterrorism is being grafted, security aid may produce few results beyond the alienation of Muslim communities and the empowerment of domestic security forces with greater martial resources.

2005

The participation of the domestic context in politics can be traced to the time o f Kenya’s independence in 1963. However, the degree of its involvement was determined by the democratic space afforded by the successive regimes. During Kenyatta’s regime, the domestic context was very active but had domestic rather than foreign policy as their object. On the other hand, during Moi’s regime the partners in the domestic context were threatened, censored, banned or procrastinated, reducing their activity to a bare minimum. After introduction of multiparty politics, the activity o f the domestic context was once again revived. This participation increased in tempo when Kenya became a target of international terrorism in 1998 and 2002, because the responses o f the state to these acts, were perceived as discriminating against sections of the population. The diversity o f partners and interests within the domestic context, has led to delays in formulating and implementing policy on internat...

Peacebuilding, 2017

This article analyses the merging of development and security in Western policies vis-à-vis ‘deficient’ states in the Global South, looking at the social life of anti-terror policies in Kenya. The attacks on 11 September 2001 renewed the interest in strong and stable states, leading many donors to focus on capacity building and security sector reform. In Kenya, the repressive use of these new powers by the Kibaki government has created significant resistance and the main external actors have taken the local opposition into account and have adapted their anti-terror agendas. They have complemented hard security assistance with soft interventions aimed at addressing local issues such as conflict prevention and development in communities perceived as being ‘at risk’ of harbouring terrorists. Representing a more general shift in security interventions in Africa, countering terrorism is now presented as part of a broader ‘peace and security’ agenda, but despite using new methods to engage with so-called crucial parts of the population, this repositioning is not a paradigm shift. Despite the different approaches and objectives, the various projects have ambiguous effects and donors have not abandoned the traditional rationality, which privileges homeland protection over civil rights in the recipient country.

Since the al Shabaab attacks on the Westgate Mall in 2013 and the massacre at a university in Garissa in 2015, attempts by the terrorist group to expand operations and recruitment in Kenya have been a growing source of concern. The Kenyan state has taken several measures to counter violent extremism, including giving muslim-dominated regions increasing autonomy and issuing an amnesty for Kenyan al Shabaab returnees in 2015. Even so, broad and heavy-handed police sweeps, forced disappearances and killings of radical clerics have been exploited by al Shabaab in radicalisation and recruitment efforts. This carries the risk of polarizing inter-ethnic and inter-faith relations in Kenya and could threaten the future stability of the country.

Politeja, 2016