Somali Transitional Government, loses strategy town To Islamist.

BY ADOW JUBAT

At least four people were confirmed killed and seven others seriously injured in an eruption of a heavy fighting between the Transitional Federal Government forces and the dread Al-Shabaab militia group.

The fighting which started on the wee hours (4.00 AM) of Wednesday morning also saw the displacement of hundreds of civilians fleeing from the skirmishes sparked off for the control of the Somali border town of Kolbio neighboring Kenya.

Panicking residents of Hullugho town in Ijara district, a town less than a nine kilometers away from the fluid Somali border town of Kolbio are reported to have deserted the town to neigbouring villages to avoid be in caught by astray bullets.

Confirming the incident the North-Eastern Provincial Commissioner James Ole Serian said seven of the injuries were been brought into Hullugho dispensary, where they are undergoing treatment before been transported to Ijara District hospital for speciliasted treatment.

The PC said “We are aware of heavy fighting going on in Kolbia Somali border district, which is nine kilometers away from our border between forces loyal to TFG and the Al-Shabaab militia. So far there are seven casualties who sustained various gun wounds been treated at our Hullugho Dispensary’.

“I can not confirm who the casualties are. I can only tell you they are those who were fighting and not civilians. As country we are allowing them to be treated in our facility on humanitarian grounds” he added when asked whether it was true those treated in Kenya health facility were TFG solders.

Ole Serian added following the skirmishes the security in the in Kenya border towns were intensified to thwart attempt of incursions from those entangled in the heavy fighting adding that reports they were receiving from the border town indicates the fighting is far from over.

However, a senior Kenya provincial administration who requested to remain unknown for fear of been victimized told Your Authoritative Frontier leaks on phone the four killed persons and the seven injured currently been treated in Hullugho Dispensary were all soldiers of Transition Federal Government, which enjoys moral and military supports from Kenya government.

The official said the border town has now fell on the control of the Islamist group, adding the casualties on their side couldn’t immediately confirmed since they took away the bodies of the killed militia men.

The fighting comes barely a week after the Transitional Federal Government Deputy Minister for Defence Col. Abdirashid Mohamed Xidig visited the border town with a Kenyan senior security officer in-charge of the co-ordinations on the operation and security on Kenya/Somali border towns to open a Military Training Camp in Sinia town in Kolbio district.

Ends.

SOMALI REFUGEES CRY FOUL AS THIER WIVES ARE SNATCHED

By Adow Jubat "Has Kenya run out of women or what?" Ismail asked a group of youths inside a wattle and daub hut. It was a question in response to a new breed of prey stocking Dadaab Refugee camps in Garissa District. They pour in every day in luxurious four-wheel drive vehicles and buses, lodge in the best restaurants, venture out to inspect the teeming camps and interact with refugees. They are not here to gather information or chip in with the much-needed help. They are Kenyan-Somalis on a mission. They are hunting for potential wives among refugees. Besides their menacing four-wheelers, their adventures have left the Somali men befuddled. "As if fleeing wars in our own country is not enough, our brothers pile more misery by taking our women," Mr Guled Dadirey Ismail, 25, said as he seeped steaming black tea at Hagardera refugee camp. "I was betrothed to a lady when we were young, but a Kenyan civil servant attached to one of aid agencies here came and snatched her from me," he said. "I was devastated. Now I have shelved marriage plans for fear of a similar fate," he said. "The worst thing about our Kenyan brothers is that some arrive in borrowed or hired vehicles to hoodwink the ladies." latest craze Taking the hand of refugees seems to be the latest craze in North Eastern Province. As many as 50 marriages involving Kenyan-Somali men and refugee women are conducted each month, said Mr Noor Ali Ahmed, a village elder. Rarely do marriages involving Somali refugee men and Kenyan women get reported. The reason the Kenyan men are taking advantage of the girls is easy to discern. With marriages formalised, the refugee girl automatically gets Kenyan citizenship. "I wont hesitate if a Kenyan man proposes to marry me. In fact, Im praying for that moment when one will spot me as a potential wife," said Sadia Omar, 19. "I want to get out of the camp." Another reason Kenyan men troop here is interesting. "While a normal wedding involving our Kenyan-Somali ladies would cost more than Sh200,000, for a refugee Sh20,000 would do," said a Kenyan who recently returned to Garissa with his prey. Recent trends bear him out. Somali marriages rank among the most lavish and expensive this side of the world. Besides purchasing a set of gold rings, necklaces and bracelets for the bride, a potential husband has to furnish his home with state-of-the-art furniture as goodwill to the bride and her parents. Then the man has to budget for a number of vehicles and if possible pay for a hotel where the ceremony would be held. Some women will ask for a gold set that costs Sh200,000 exclusive of other wedding expenses. The women we managed to interview said the demand for gold is not without reason it is aimed at minimising divorce. "Divorce is rampant here. Many Kenyan-Somali men separate with their wives barely a year into the marriage. Gold can be sold to start a business in case the man decides to walk out on you," said Fozia Abdinur, a newlywed in Garissa. Islam stipulates that in case of divorce, the woman keeps everything, while the man walks away with his clothes if he is lucky. Looking at the lavish weddings and the demand for gold in a province ranked second poorest in the country, men say they have been forced to refugee camps where there are no tough conditions. "It is not really difficult here. You just, spot her, go to her parents and," says Mohammed Bundid, who The Standard ran into at Dagahaley refugee camp shopping for a wife. Bundid says: "What one requires is only bedding and utensils since you have Kenyan citizenship. Which parent wouldnt want their children have security and a better life?" Kenyan-Somali men say the Somali refugees are obedient, submissive and deeply religious, a trait lacking in most Kenyan women. But the refugee men say the unprecedented influx of the Kenyan-Somalis hovering here has placed them in a tight position. "When we seek our girls they say you and I are refugees, we are not compatible," Ismail said. Marriages among refugees, dubbed UN marriage are no fanfare. The food consumed in the ceremonies is the same relief food dished out by UN aid agencies. At the same time, cunning Kenyan men only want to marry refugee women in order to benefit from possible relocation to Europe or America by the United Nations Human Commission for Refugees. "The marriage is like a ticket to Europe as those relocated are often allowed to go with their husbands," said another Kenyan who has sought relocation posing as a refugee. A refugee woman said at the camp that she wanted to marry a Kenyan because she intends to do business in the country. But Kenyan-Somalis arent the only source of competition for the refugee men. "Somalis abroad are other stiff competitors. A call from Toronto, Canada or Sweden to a parent here and a girl is hurriedly arranged to marry the ghost," Ismail said. "We are being fought from all fronts. Our main concern is that most of these marriages dont last," he noted. "Why snatch our childhood sweethearts only to abandon them? They might say it is jealousy but it we are concerned."

Sukuma wiki revolution ,finally hits NEP village

By ADOW JUBAT

Until two years ago, Nuria Mohamud Adan regarded Sukuma wiki (kales) as fodder for livestock and held them in nauseating contempt.

"I found it strange that people ate leaves!" she said. Like the rest of North Eastern Province, fermented pancake, locally called anjera, spaghetti, meat, and camel milk was the staple food in her Borehole Five village in Lagdera District.

Proposals to introduce kales on the sandy region to supplement vitamins in their meals and provide income were resisted.

Five people suffered serious injuries in July 2009 when a humanitarian aid agency Fafi Integrated Development Association (Faida) introduced kale.

Faida project co-ordinator Mohammed Abdi Shale said they wanted to introduce farming as an alternative economic venture to the unsustainable nomadic lifestyle that has been facing threats from sporadic drought and diseases.

Regain dignity

Says Nuria: "We rioted when Faida asked us for a piece of land to demonstrate farming. Back then it was a big joke, an abomination to ask us to grow leaves for a living".

"When we lost our livestock we were desperate for help to restock our animals, but instead we met people talking about us growing ‘shrubs’. We didn’t buy the idea because it didn’t make much sense then and we had to chase them away," she said.

Today it is a finger licking addition to their daily diet and the project they attempted to scuttle has made them mini-millionaires and the envy of neighbouring villages.

While the rest of the district is reeling from effects of drought, Borehole Five is a picture of verdant land painted by sukuma wiki. Others call it an oasis. The kales are kept alive by irrigation.

Adan Mohammed Farah, who lost his livestock to drought in 2006, observed that growing vegetables has helped him regain dignity.

"After my entire livestock was decimated I retreated to a sedentary life. It was hard to stand before people because I did not have wealth. Now I have regained some status and command respect because I have money from the sale of vegetables," he said when The Standard On Saturday caught up with him at his farm. "Most of us have educated our children or started other businesses."

Cutting trees

Today he cuts the figure of a veteran farmer. "We never thought after we failed in livestock farming we should venture into crop farming. We entertained the idea but we had reservations because of its sustainability in our sun-battered village. But you can see what for yourselves," he said sweeping his hand across a lush green stretch of kales. The farmers also produce watermelon and spinach.

A nutritionist at the Alinjugur Dispensary said that diseases that were caused by lack of vitamins like scurvy have tremendously reduced because of the consumption of greens. Today, markets that once only sold livestock and related products now have to accommodate the ‘leaves.

Residents here are picking scattered pieces after suffering effects of drought for many years and Faida is helping them rebuild lives. The Japanese Embassy, through United Nations Humanitarian Commission on Refugees (UNHCR), funds the initiative under the Environmental Restoration Programme.

He said there are more than 275 groups of farmers who also integrate tree planting in the farms and areas left bare to address the environmental degradation caused by large influx of refugees from Somalia.

About 100, 000 trees have also been planted in enclosures that were left bare by the activities of the refugees that included cutting and carting away the trees for fuel and shelter.

Faida say they assessed the viability of farming and found that the province was right.

Green houses

"The only problem is water but returns are about 95 per cent unlike in other areas where it is 65 per cent. The province also requires minimum pesticides," Shale said.

To minimise the use of the scarce water and attack from pesticides, Faida bought two green houses. In green house they use drip irrigation.

"We have negotiated with one of the companies that manufactures green houses to provide the farmers with the same on credit. The farmers will pay because they are making more than Sh30, 000 in profit.

"Our work is to teach them how to fish.

"Besides providing technical people to train them on farming, we also provide farming tools, seeds and pesticides," Shale said.

Nuria is looking forward to another project – poultry keeping. "This would be interesting too because we never used to eat poultry products," she observes.

"We won’t put much resistance because it could turn out to be of much benefit," she said.

Sowing hospitality, reaping from the seeds of refugees

 

By Adow Jubat

 
Initially shunned as a burden on the host communities, Somali refugees have become an integral part of the economy of urban regions of North Eastern Province.

The headquarters of the province, Garissa and its sister towns of Wajir, Mandera and Ijara appear to have embraced and learnt to live with the immigrants, cast on them by the 20-year long breakdown of order in Somalia.

Refugees in the Northern Kenya camps always yearn for a better life outside. Many have managed to immigrate or become residents in Kenya.

In the mid-nineties, local populations and the Provincial 

Administration were always at loggerheads with the refugees whose numbers surged by the day. Today, most of the refugees who sneaked into the towns and managed to get residency or citizenship status have integrated into the communities.
Welcoming the refugees has become like an investment whose returns have matured.

The United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) says there are about 400,000 Somali refugees registered with the agency to live in Kakuma and Dadaab refugee camps in Garissa and Turkana districts respectively.
Citizenship

But other NGOs and the Provincial Administration say over half of those have already found their way into the population by obtaining citizenship, mostly through corrupt means.

"Since the laws restricts refugee movement outside camps, thousands have over the years sneaked out of the squalid living conditions in the camps to integrate with their hosts. 

Many have thrived in business and become residents of North Eastern Province’s towns," says a director of a Wajir-based NGO.

The exodus from the camps intensified in the past few years as the situation in Somalia degenerated and as the US and European nations tightened immigration rules on asylum seekers.

Ibrahim Rashid Ahmed, an economist and development analyst says, with hope for peace in Somalia a mirage, many refugees took the predicament in their stride and started a new life.

Subsequently, the Somali refugees have contributed to turning the once sleepy North Eastern Province towns of Ijara, Garissa, Wajir and Mandera into bubbling business hubs.

The towns have virtually shed off their baadiya (Somali for hinterland) image and embraced an economic transformation spurred by enterprising immigrant business people.

Garissa, which was until 2005 served only three bus companies, now has more than 15, making travel easier, reliable and cost effective. The immigrants own most of the companies.
The immigrants also run most of the businesses and are a source of employment opportunities for thousands of locals.

They own well stocked bazaars, dealing mainly in electronics, textiless and food items.
One can now buy a 40-inch flat screen TV, a Compaq computer and a Mac laptop in Garissa.
Similar thriving business has taken root in the border town of Mandera, Ijara and Wajir.

"Most of the goods come in from Somalia. Some are taken through the Customs desk at Mandera but majority are smuggled through unpoliced border routes," said a Mandera shopkeeper.

"The immigrant businesspeople have built strong business partnerships with their hosts, many who provide a front when business owner’s status is not regularlised.

Garissa now has branches of seven major banks, up from two the years ago. Fast-growing Equity Bank has opened branches in Garissa, Wajir and Mandera.

Hassan Mohammed, a Somali immigrant with a niche in real state said he employs more than 500 people.
He has spread out his businesses to Nairobi and is in the process of constructing high-rise offices and business complexes in the sprawling Eastleigh.

However, Mohammed says most immigrants operate in fear of arrest by police. "Those who have work permits or resident status face a lot of problems," says the businessman.

He denies that many of the immigrant Somali businesspeople are beneficiaries the latest surge of piracy.
"Most of it is a myth, I have never seen a former pirate here in Garissa, maybe they invest elsewhere," says Mohammed.

According to Kenya chamber, commerce and Industry Wajir Branch Chairman Mohammed Abdille Ali the real story of the Somali refugees-turned-businesspeople is tainted by unfounded allegations.
"While it is undisputed that some have had negative influence, the immigrant Somalis have generally contributed positively to the economy," he said.
Helping aliens

North Eastern Provincial Commissioner James Ole Seriani says some residents and Government officials front for the aliens as their Kenyan relatives after receiving bribes.

"It is difficult to pin down a foreigner who has Kenyan documentation," he says.
"When the foreigners are registered the same residents who helped them acquire documentation shout the 

loudest on realising the immigrants are giving them competition for jobs, businesses and property rights. We have managed to take action against some chiefs who have been caught helping aliens as emanating from their locations in order to give them registration documents," Seriani says.

LACK OF ROYAL SOMALIS FRUSTRATED KENYA’S EFFORTS TO COUNTER MOGADISHU

By Adow Jubat

With casualties on both sides of the shifta war rising and with neither party backing down, bringing the conflict to an end would demand more than using firepower on the part of the Government.

While President Jomo Kenyatta publicly exuded confidence saying the Government was in control, the situation on the ground was different.

In 1965, for instance, during the celebration of Kenyatta Day, the late president told the crowd the Government had sufficient forces to neutralise the insurgents.

However, he was contradicted by ministers Dr Njoroge Mungai (Defence), Daniel Moi (Home Affairs) and Achieng’ Oneko (Information and Broadcasting) who said military solution was not working, during a Cabinet meeting.

Cabinet minutes

The three proposed use of broadcasting services, arguing it could do a great deal to bring the shifta campaign to an end. The cabinet adopted the idea and set up a propaganda radio station in the province.

The Eastern Service of the Kenya Broadcasting Corporation (then Voice of Kenya) went on air to counter Radio Mogadishu that used to relay secession propaganda to the Kenyan Somali community.

But it was not smooth sailing. Declassified information and cabinet minutes show that the Government was concerned that there might be no loyal Somalis inside the Government to carry out the propaganda and out it started training a Kikuyu to learn the Somali language.

A letter from FK Mbugua of the Ministry of Defence addressed to Information PS Peter Gachathi said: “Going by experience we have not succeeded in putting propaganda through the VoK to contradict those peddled by Radio Mogadishu and convince Kenyan Somalis into accepting Kenya status.”

The then Director of Intelligence James Kanyotu was asked to launch investigations on the source of the news.

An imposter was to be used after the meeting of heads of States of East and Central Africa that agreed no country was to use its radio system for propaganda activities against another country.

Home Affairs PS relayed the message to Leonard Kibinge (PS, Foreign Affairs), Gachathi and Danson Mlamba (Defence) and waited for the Somali Government reaction.

In a letter dated June 18, 1966, Gachathi wrote to Kanyotu: “We shall counterattack by exploring weaknesses in the internal situation in Somali. Our attacks must be factual, calm and objective.” The letter outlined how the propaganda machine that was being built would work.

Collecting intelligence

Commentaries were to show the inability of the Somalia to provide social services to her citizens and portray the Somali economy as controlled by foreigners. The radio was to stress on the ‘rigged elections and nepotism’, while the other broadcasts were to portray Kenya as a ‘civilised country fully aware of national and international obligations and completely capable of meeting them in a mature fashion’.

The aim of this was to show Kenya is on the right and Somali on the wrong, Gachathi wrote to PS in the Office of President, Geofrey Kariithi telling him the aim must be to demoralise the shifta bandits and to maintain the morale of the Kenyan forces at all times.

Since there was no Somali willing to carry out the job, Ethiopia promised to dispatch two reliable Somalis to help in broadcasting and monitoring. The station opened in March 1967. In a letter to Matere Keriri, then Financial Secretary, the Defence Ministry PS admitted once more the shifta war could not be won by bullets alone. The letter by HD Dent asked Keriri to approve the hiring of a psychological warfare expert, saying the mounting cost of the campaign justified using every available method to break to win.

VoK therefore embarked on recruitment of staff into the propaganda machine. Mutu wa Gethoi, a former university professor, was suggested as head of news while SN Githegi was to be the news editor, responsible for propaganda section.

Before the station opened, Kanyotu hit the ground running collecting intelligence on all Somalis working as announcers in VoK. In a letter to Duncan Ndegwa, PS Office of President, Kanyotu through Gachathi recommended the Somali presenters be replaced immediately because they were disloyal to the Government.

Due to lack of a loyal Somali producer, Gachathi asked for the transfer of a district cashier in Embu, George Mahinda to VoK as a producer. Mahinda, a Kikuyu, had smattering of Somali language and Gachahi wanted him trained.

As Radio Mogadishu continued propaganda war, VoK was forced to use the Somalis employed at the station against the warnings by Kanyotu about their lack of loyalty. It proved costly.

Defence PS Mlamba lamented to Gachathi that VoK could not conduct the propaganda war successfully after it emerged that there was a serious leakage of information to Radio Mogadishu.

In August 1967, Omanga wrote to Gachathi proposing time had come to take three people to University of London’s School of Oriental and African Studies to learn Somali language. But Ithau, on behalf of Gachathi, said VoK would utilise the services of Somalis in Voice of America until other people could be trained to take over from them.

It is not known whether those recommended ever underwent any training because a tug of war between Government heads over whether they should be trained abroad or in the country, ensued. The war ended in 1968, a year after Eastern Service of the Vok went on air.

What caused Kenya’s first civil war

By Adow Jubat

Forty six years ago, Omar Shuriye Hassan said the only good thing coming out of Somalia is sun. Shuriye was one of the people vehemently opposed to North Eastern Province’s bid to become part of Somalia.

Shuriye was the Sultan (King) of the Abdalla sub clan of the larger Ogaden. He had called a baraza in Ijara in 1964 and was taken to task over his refusal to join others in the province agitating for a breakaway.

Bille Mohammed, 74, said Shuriye had predicted Somalia would one day fall because of civil strife.
GSU officers on guard with their rifles and sten guns in the North Eastern region in 1964.

“He urged the community to remain in Kenya so that when Somalia collapsed they would not be left desperate,” Bille recalls.

He was killed soon after in his palace in Ijara, which was then the headquarters for those opposing the secession, was captured by members of Abduwak sub clan.

His bodyguard and two people who had come to rescue him were also killed. He was shot in the chest after a fierce battle with the killers. When he was killed, one of his bodyguards, Corporal Ahmed Korio Nur, ran 55 miles from Ijara to Lamu to report the matter. After Shuriye’s death, those in his Abdalla clan opposed to the agitation to join Somalia fled.

It was Maalim Muhamed Stanbul Abdi Ibrahim of Abduwak’s, Sultan of Sub clan, idea to break away.
But Shuraya formed a militia and joined the Government in fighting those proposing secession. After Shuriye was killed, it marked the end of Sultanship.

Due to his opposition to the secessionist ideas, the Abdalla had a good relationship with the colonial government.

In 1962, a referendum was held to determine the fate of the province. Pro-seccessionists won by a landslide, but the colonial government reversed the results, setting the wheels of Shifta war, that rocked North Eastern province, in motion.

COUNTY POSITION, AVOID CLANISM

 BY  ADOW JUBAT

The coming into law by the new constitution that propagates devolved system of County Government that aimed at decentralize resources and power to the people, at the village level, is of great achievement to the to the marginalized people of North-Eastern region.

For over four decades of our country’s independence the communities in the Northern region were disadvantaged through politics of exclusion, neglect and discriminations by the successive governments.

 The only known contact with their government since the country independent in 1964, for the people in this remote region is one of suspicion, atrocities like that of famous Wagalla massacre, brutal security operations and Emergency that curtailed their integration with other Kenyans and Economical prosperity.

 Despite all these impending factors to their progress, the people of NEP remained resilient in the hope of a brighter light at the end of the long dark tunnel, which true to their expectations came to into fruition on 7^th, August 2010, when the new constitution was promulgated.

But, all indications to the realization of the better times a head for people of this region seems remotely bleak, if clans are not extra- vigilant to the maneuvers of old fashioned and clan minded politicians attempts to create a selfish wedge between the clans who have better stayed together and the most hardest of political and constitutional times is not nibbed in the budding.

 For their personal interests, some senior politicians from the region have started to inspire in the minds of their clan followers who are majority illiterate, misleading believes that for their clan to benefit maximally from the new political dispensation, they MUST get certain positions mainly Senator or Governor Slots for their respective communities.

Some (politicians) are even too busy in bid to form clan alliances, which will obviously exclude some of the clans who have rightful stake in the Counties positions, in order to avail themselves an easy ladder to make to their dream position despite highly risks of sparking a bloody discontent from the other isolated clan members.

In a matter of fact I’m yet to convinced how unqualified clan mate in the position of senator or Governor, will help the herder, whose cows need water in Alijarire or Danyere?

Clans in North-Eastern MUST not got lost to the factors that, it never matter whose clan is in poison A or B in the forthcoming County governments. What should be of priority concerns to them is the capability and qualifications of the individuals to be entrust with the position of power.

To avoid continuity of marginalization through self elected leaders, we MUST adequately interrogate the characters, leadership abilities, past and present records of those vying for any position in the County or National Governments to avoid scuttling the aspirations and vision of our a new constitution of emancipating us from shackles of bad leadership and rotten institutions.

Any leader with slight past or present tinted leadership record MUST be rejected to ascend to any position of leadership at both County and National levels at all cost for us to emancipate ourselves from greedy, selfishness tribalism, political of exclusion and of all the worst corruption practices of the few.

We MUST not re-invite past political criminals who are out of cells, with sheer courtesy of the inefficient old constitution to spoil for our communities to achieve what they  have been yawning for many decades through a bloody struggle and torturous perseverance.

 Majority of these MPs now eyeing the seemingly prestigious Senator or Governor Slots, inefficiency was already clearly displayed thanks to ongoing live coverage of parliamentary debates proceeding, which started early 2007.

These legislators now poking their big mouth when speaking to their clan sycophants on how to retain lucrative County positions for their clans, were conspicuously truant from most parliamentary sittings debated on matters of National interest or were visibly, when they were going to house toilets for natural calls to borrow words of former MP Mukyisa Kitui during 2002 transitional election, when describing some Former 

MPs who clung to dying KANU despite all signs showing disastrous lose for the Independent party.

Devolving the cancers of tribalism, bad leadership, corruption and bad policies, which are killers of our past unitary system of government, MUST not be tolerated by any average thinking Kenyan despite of his/her clan, region or political affiliations.

Our good constitution provides legal framework to take us to our dream cannan, but the leaders we shall elect to the respective County and National positions will be the conveyers’ belts. So voters forewarned.

Ends.

NB: The writer is a senior Journalist with The Standard Newspaper Based in North-Kenya.