If one closely follow the events leading to the Kenyan Defence Forces invading Somalia to deal with the militants, one realises that this invasion was largely trigged by the kidnappings of some Spanish aid workers in Dadaab, a British woman and a wheelchair bound French woman in Lamu.
I may be very wrong but if those kidnapped were Kenyans, the invasion would have at least been delayed or it would probably have never taken place.
Well, the government’s line of argument was that kidnappings of white foreigners would adversely affect tourism. While this argument is logical, it also reeks of just how the government is apathetic to the security conditions of Kenyans, given that the western media will rarely highlight ‘minor’ incidents when Kenyans are kidnapped or even abducted by the militias.
For instance, I am certain that the government would have reacted with speed and fury if, for instance, the Garrisa massacre involved ‘only’ 4 Americans being killed. Even the president would have visited that college.
It is for this reason that the Westgate massacre was more ‘sensitive’ to the government machinery than the Garrisa massacre since the latter involved only ‘ordinary’ Kenyans while the former involved westerners and the ‘cream’ of the society.
This is the absurdity that Kenyans have got to learn to live with: no matter how these leaders tell you how your security matters, the death of an ordinary Kenyan in the hands of terrorists/ criminal is normally a non issue to the government. Due to some weird/idiotic mental compositions of our leaders and Kenyans in general, an American killed in Kenya is likely to attract serious attention from security forces whilst the death of a Kenyan will only elicit some frail ‘ we are investigating’ choruses.
Now, whenever you look at just how this country has screwed up ordinary people since independence, you find it hard to be patriotic. Personally, the little, minimum patriotism that is in me is only because of the undeniable fact that I was born in Kenya. Even if your mother gave birth to you and then dumped you and you were saved by good Samaritans, at least when you grow up, you’ll have minimum respect for her and only because she gave birth to you and nothing else. This is the case with me and my ‘patriotism’.
Otherwise, how can you be madly patriotic in a country that takes security measures only after foreigners are caught up by the security storms?
Back to the Somalia invasion: I think the government never really understood the implications of fighting a faceless outfit. Shabaab aren’t a conventional army and routing out terrorists from their hideouts demand a very thorough plan of dealing with the repercussions of fighting slippery rats that can easily blend with local populations. I am certain that eastleigh harbours a large number of terrorists and their sympathisers.
Was the invasion necessary?
How comes Ethiopia is rarely attacked yet its forces are roaming in Somalia?
Let me now rant out of topic
Given the kind of crimes that Somalias commit against Kenya and their determination to never blend with other Kenyans(though they have no problem making money from the same Kenyans), do they generally have low opinion regarding Kenyans with ‘Nywere Ngumu’?
Why is it that the Kenyan government is always ‘soft’ on foreigners yet it deals with native Kenyans with unimaginable brutality?
If Kamlesh Pattni was a black Kenya, would he have managed to pull off the Goldenberg scam?
Today, if a fly-by-night American ‘businessman’ claiming he want to inject 10 billion into the economy came around , will he not easily secure audience with at least 5 cabinet secretaries?
It’s just appalling that it took the kidnapping of foreigners for the government to invade Somalia. If as a man you will only think of securing your homestead when a visitor is injured by a criminal but when your kid is injured by the same criminal, you do nothing, you have no business calling yourself a man.
Kenyans love pampering foreigners yet when you visit their countries, they treat you like dirt. I have been to the US and Belgium and I know what I am talking about. And these foreigners, especially the whites, go back to their countries claiming how Kenyans are friendly people. No, many Kenyans are not friendly; they are only servile and ‘hospitable’ when dealing with a white person.
The greatest tragedy that the white man inflicted on us was to destroy our collective self esteem and making us hate ourselves.
It’s also the high time the government stopped believing that tourism will ever be Kenya’s economic saviour ; beyond elephants and lions which we are quickly destroying, there is really nothing else that can attract 10 million tourists in Kenya every year. What is it anyway? How many tourists know anything about Fort Jesus? Yet millions know about Pyramids. Many tourists aren’t overly obsessed with Safaris and lions. In fact, most of the loaded tourists head to Switzerland, France and other expensive destinations. The few that come here are (mostly) shady characters, paedophiles and low spenders. In Kenya, we’ve got no credible and globally renowned historical assets that would attract millions of tourists. For instance, Israel and Egypt might not market themselves as tourism destinations but their renowned histories will always attract millions of visitors.
The Kenyan government must learn to protect the lives of kenyans without being forced into doing so by the frail benefits of tourism.
