Introduction
Religious fundamentalism is a hot topic to handle today especially in
our volatile unpredictable environment
that is being rocked by terrorism, suicide bombers and general global security
upgrades both nationally and internationally. In this paper we want to venture
into what exactly is religious fundamentalism and its root causes, to
understand a pastoral approach in a society cocktailed by major religions
(Christians, Muslim and Judaism,) who profess in the same God, but their way of
relation is a bit intense, departing in different directions with no intention
of uniting but a close co-existence amidst soft and hard intolerance attitudes.
Religious
fundamentalism has its context and environment of operation. In this research
of North-Eastern Kenya with a group called Al-Shabaab. An infiltrated terrorist
group with lethal impact that come with untold sufferings to the innocent
Kenyans on their soil.
Religious fundamentalism is usually religious movement
or point of view characterized by the return to fundamental principles, by
rigid adherence to those principles, and often by intolerance of other views
and opposition to secularism. “Fundamentalism is the resistance, a
form of modern secularization…volatile movement with an intention of returning
to the passed, a belief not compatible with modernity”[1]
Religious
fundamentalism is caused with many factors: economic, cultural, threat to
modernity, technocratic etc. But the
interesting thing is its psychological in nature which is never highlighted in
various works of fundamentalism. Marty says, “fundamentalism have little or nothing in common with each other,
and he believes psychological factors are important in explaining
fundamentalism.”[2]
The
question is why do people become religious fundamentalists? The term
fundamentalist
Is not used by Muslims, it
doesn’t exist in Islamic fundamentalism[3].
I will refer to it as Muslim Islamic. The Kenyan environment is coloured with
economic, political and government abandonment of the Northern region that has
been a great recruiting environment by young men into the Al-Shabaab movement that
end up into hard religious fundamentalism.
1.1 What is Terrorism?
Terrorism is no longer something that used to be done or carried out by
few confused, crazy chaps out to disrupt the daily routine of life. Terrorism
is global reality that we have to all confront and find out ways of how to
negotiate and talk over to stop the looming disasters which are daily affecting
all lives. Terrorism seems to be making everyone and more so governments to
rethink over means and ways to averting massive deaths and destructions. J. Powell states
“Terrorism is not a new phenomenon, even if we
treat it as such. Most histories of terrorism try to take the story back to the
“Sicarii” in the first-century Judea, who used their small daggers or sicae to attack romans, and ‘the
Assassins’ in the medieval Persia who murdered religious rivals in the certain
knowledge they themselves would be killed. While it is true that political and
religious violence is as old as man, it is stretching the meaning of the expression
to suggest it goes back that far. The tern ‘terror’ in this context was first
coined in the French Revolution, where it was used to describe the government’s
campaign to protect the revolution and had a thorough positive connotation for
those using it… The first use of the term terrorist was used to describe the
men who attacked Napoleon’s coach on Christmas Eve 1800 in the ‘Infernal
Machine’ plot (named after an earlier bomb attack in Flanders during the
sixteenth-century revolt against the Spanish) …their objective was to spread
fear and panic in order to sap the morale of the ‘imperial enemy’”[4]
These
groups are formed with a hidden agenda which only those recruiting them know
what the end results will be. The radical Muslim sheikhs in their radical religious
classes, madras keep teaching that a true Muslim is prepared to die for his
religion, which cannot be done through dialogue but through arms. It’s never
proclaimed publicly but secretly passed to those who attend the classes. In
2000 Nelson Mandela said on Larry King Live,
‘I was called a terrorist yesterday, but when
I came out of jail, many people embraced me, including my enemies…Yasser Arafat
said ‘The difference between a revolutionary and terrorist lies in the reason
for which fights. For whoever stands by the just cause and fights for freedom
and liberation of his land from the invaders, the settlers and the
colonialists, cannot possibly be called terrorists’’[5]
The UN requires states to ‘take the necessary steps to prevent the
commission of terrorist acts ’but there is no international consensus on what
constitutes terrorism. Once all these factors, that keep unfolding mixed with
land and political undertones, it unfolds like a hydra that a small political
ideology flames an agenda for military missions.
The terrorists or fundamentalist group strive
where a government interest and security are weak, more so targeting police
stations, destroying communication installations, so as to make movements
difficult, confusing security officials. It always turns out in hails of
bullets. Once a terrorist group like Al-Shabaab[6]
leader is arrested or killed, it psyches the group to now go full throttle to
inflict pain, destruction to innocent people, civilians even their Muslim
brothers.
1.2
The scenario and operations of
Al-Shabaab
This is the scenario Al-Shabaab operates in and are usually good at.
They believe they have a right to operate and do what they want on their land
and in this case of our research Somalia. Anybody who invades and destabilised
their operations in Somalia is seen as an enemy and foreign who needs to be
fought forth with all means possible.
This lays ground for a religious war and
if the invader is not a Muslim it takes a direct confrontation head on. This is
what this research wants to delve into, the causes of Al-Shabaab in
North-eastern Kenya that has turned out to be a nightmare to the Kenyan state
and regional economic blocs.
The
underlying factors, or reasons for the rule and rise of Al-Shabaab seems to be
more of the Kenya government’s lack of interest to what is happening in the
North-eastern regions, hence creating a great rift of assessment of quality of
lives of the people, children and youths. Such attitudes produce a complex
reality which after many years of neglect turns into a catalyst of war and
destruction.
North-eastern
Kenya is a place considered a hardship prone place, uninhabitable, abandoned
place, open fields of deserts, a rich ground of recruitment. It serves a playground
of extremists who take over and with no laws, basic rules for survival, it
turns out into death trap zone, another replicated Somalia stateless country in
the horn of Africa.
Al-Shabaab
is a terrorist group that operates without border, it can be hired, recruited
very easily into another outskirt and yet still functions with same objective.
They become hitmen on hire by any other group who have a serious mission of
destruction or interested target spots, it becomes a hired machinery. We are
factoring into one specific one in the context of Kenya who operate between the
North-eastern frontiers of Kenyan boundaries with Somalia. The drama that is
being played in the North-Kenya has left many dead, maimed and more so the
terrible massacre 147 of the Garissa University students in a cold blood that
shock the Kenyan state to the roots of its main nerve.
These all
because of paying back for what Kenya is doing in Somalia, killing their
brothers. Their claimed objectives are that Kenya withdraw from Somalia or lest
the will be subjected to massive loss of property and unfathomable deaths. Such
chills send fear to many Kenyans and more so to foreigners who crowd Kenya is
festival seasons that once they strike, the whole tourism industry goes to her
knees. They hit so hard that they become legitimised and recognised force to
reckon with.
Al-Shabaab
is group that has great influence in politics of the day and financiers who
organise them. Their ideals look different and undefined. Kill its leader and
the internal mechanisms is automatically activated with proper policy of
command exact execution.
1.3
The Kenya Defence Force Military
Strategy
The Kenyan Defence Force (KDF) justification of entering Somalia was a
catalyst to psyche the Al-Shabaab to become more sophisticated and lethal.
Kenya was chattering into murky desert dunes of Somalia hence, creating a
complete overrunning of the Al-Shabaab camps of recruitments and base of
disaster against neighbouring countries that unrolled forth undesirable
destructions, deaths, blood berths.
Al-Shabaab felt a foreigner has invaded their
land and killed Somalis in large numbers, bombing, raping and polluting their
patria. This war against Al-Shabaab is entering its eighth year with untold
consequences. The big questions many people are asking themselves is who funds
Al-Shabaab? It looks to many that even the KDF seem to not know why they took
such risks to invade a foreign nation, very complicated matrix. The territory
compromises of Mandera, Wajir, and Garissa counties.
North-Eastern Kenya that is peculiar in that
very difficult terrain, impenetrable and inaccessible above all a deserted
place, survival is so difficult. Such a place becomes a soft spot of
recruitment and radicalization of the unemployed, uneducated youths with the indoctrination
and brainwashing of claims to take up arms and fight to defend the country
from the enemy and slaughtering of their people.
Al-Shabaab feels that it’s
their responsibility to kick out Kenya from Somalia and from the pangs of the
western countries through the proxy of Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi, whom they accuse
of plundering Somalia of her wealth and trading it with international family.
2.1 Causes and influence of
Al-Shabaab militants in North-Eastern Kenya
2.1.1 The political influence
Al-Shabaab breeds itself in a mixed clan power struggle for supremacy
and control. The clans are used as stepping stones for being influential stake
holders in the politics of the day. A specific clan can have a ripple effect
within the region like North-Eastern Kenya, where the government at the end of
the day derives its agenda on that paradigm shift. The national politics has
local ripple effect too.
To be on
the government side means, your interests are taken care of, to be out of the
government means a nightmare of labelling and assassinations or police judicial
killings, more so if they suspect youths in a given clan to be radical Islamic
sympathisers. The politicians mobilise the people and more so friendly clans on
how to support the government of the day, anyone else is of contrary opinion is
excluded. The politics helps those in power while those in rural areas are used
as ponds in clan clashes that rise due to lack of accessibility to scarce resources.
2.1.2 Economic imbalance and
unemployment
The bone of contention is Kismayo a sea port of Somalia, very
economically strategized and a business hub for Al-Shabaab. Once the KDF
invaded Somalia and set base at Kismayo, they cut off the economic power and
influence, that displaced many Al-Shabaab militant operatives to look for all
ways for survival. They started a strong mobilisation of hitting Kenya where it
pains hardest and that was the tourism industry that caused foreign nations
travel advisory on Kenya. This became a bull’s eye for Al-Shabaab group.
The
poor economic families who depend on livestock farming and herding have always
had ecological and environment imbalance: draught, desertification, livestock
diseases that renders them redundant and unemployed and that means poverty hits
in hence becoming a security issue.
Most of the Al-Shabaab members are young
men, from poor backgrounds, who are brainwashed and exploited by Islam
extremists for their political, economic and social interests and mileage. The
Muslim young men, businessmen and women who are well placed in the society feel
it’s their responsibility to fight back the invaders through financially
contributing towards the cause for they feel it’s a Muslim obligation to fund a
group as Al-Shabaab on behalf of their militant brothers and sisters.
Since
Kenya is an economic and security hub with great international influence, that
means to Al-Shabaab has a good ground pad of launching its attacks. Kenya finding
itself with a porous border that it has no full control over, making it an easy
passage for the terrorists to enter and go out at will.
This type of management
and lack of serious attention by the government of the day creates a long-time
disaster in awaiting that give terrorists like Al-Shabaab an upper hand to plan
and strategize on their attacking skills because to them they are convinced KDF
gives them a chance to practice their warfare on such porous borders.
3.1 The way forward
The best way out of this dilemma that can be thought of is for the KDF
to withdraw their forces out of Somalia to their territorial border posts. This
will allow the Somalis to sort out their clan and country brothers without
scapegoating anyone as a cause of their mess. Today to impose yourself on
people your ideology may not be something of fashion but colonialist attitude
that has run out of time and fashion.
The play game seems to have taken
a different twist. It is no longer a fight on Al-Shabaab as a militant and
terrorist group but now the trend of thought is shifting towards seeing Kenya as
a Christian country invading an Islam country.
3.1.1 Corruption
The KDF has to stop the business curtails who are using their presence
in Somalia to get involved in black market transactions. Kismayo seaport has
turned into a business boom hub for the selling of charcoal, ivory and other
exports of natural resources. There should be a total overhaul of the security
machinery and intelligence systems in order to seriously fight terrorism, for
there is no justification to use the same technics of the terrorism to turn it
around to benefit the liberators instead of the people liberated.
3.1.2 Educational empowerment
The government should invest a lot in the educational, health, rehabilitation
and research sectors, in helping to find a lasting solution towards terrorism
activities on her soil that creates untold sufferings on her people in
North-Eastern Kenya region, that has ripple effects to the entire region of the
lake basin.
The young men whom seem to be “out of their mind” should be helped
to refocus on the meaning and dignity of life, need for re-emphasizing the need
for schooling so as to brighten their future and region. Everything worth doing
is risky, the government should not drag its feet towards empowering local
natives who has some attachment to their relatives in Somalia.
Sometimes
the politicians use the term “my people” with undertones of getting votes but
have no interests for the people. The local leaders should mobilise the resources
to build schools, rehabilitation centres to help those who have escaped from
the terrorist groups.
The
government should say enough is enough and relocate some of the many concentrated
barracks located in the capital city to terrorist prone zones. Once leaders
turn into thieves and liars, they cause the country to enter into crisis. The
politicians should negotiate the exit of KDF out of Somalia.
This should create
a mindset that is progressive where politics and policies have to change,
quality assurance of doing things has to change to improve the people’s lives
out of economic death and oppression.
Leadership
is about changing people’s lives and building up a base that makes the citizens
to take up responsibility and cultivating a sense of being each other’s
brother’s keeper. Security is a national issue, and that means all have to be
involved in carrying out the measurements and evaluation, appreciating
politicians who have the country at heart and taking them to task to account
their utterance and political hate speech that divide different clans rather
than unite in the region.
3.1.3 Government presence
The government has to be felt on the ground in the North-Eastern region
of Kenya, to work with Imams, sheikhs and Muslim youths in their communities,
other than simply being reactionary whenever the terrorist attacks occur.
3.1.4 Vigilance
There should be thorough vigilance and tacking of radical Muslim
recruiters in their preaching in their mosque. This has been used an avenue of
brainwashing the youths into subversion games against the state. The government
should track down the true sources of funding of Al-Shabaab, and sympathisers,
because in matters of terrorism may have roots into the government system that
the government itself may be a victim of feeding terrorism in its political
weak principles for a political mileage to cause chaos so as to justify its
long stay in power or change the constitution to remove term limits and age
limits. This breeds within the state ungovernable mechanisms to justify crack
down of opposition members as terrorist sympathisers and donors to destabilise
the state.
Conclusion
North-Eastern Kenya (Garissa, Marsabit, Moyale) are boiling pots of
recruitment camps for Al-Shabaab and landmines of religious explosiveness. The
root causes of religious fundamentalism are literally fundamental human fear of
ceasing to exist other than physical, psychological or spiritual[7]. But the defence of the minority against invention of the capitalistic ideology
of control and suppression.
Terrorism remains the great evil
of our time, and the war against this evil of our time, or generations’ great
cause. If there is only military pressure and no political way out other than
surrender, the armed groups the likes of Al-Shabaab will resist to the death.
If you accept that you can’t kill them all and to attempt to do so you will
create martyrs and more recruits for the cause, then at some stage, you will
have to talk to them, and however long you continue fighting you will always
arrive back, sooner or later, at the same point.
Sometimes wars are good to stop dictators to
prevent massive human rights abuses or to expel an invader. On the other hand,
it causes great human catastrophe. To wage war against Al-Shabaab, it’s good
that we get involved in dialogue for dialogue is indispensable, and then just
learn from the past mistakes that we always keep repeating when fighting
terrorism. Sometimes its good do the less evil by talking to these terrorist groups
like Al-Shabaab, it’s the right thing to do. Sometimes it’s good to deal with
the devil you know than an angel you don’t you.
The Kenyan government needs a military strategy to tackle groups like
Al-Shabaab. It will be sad if they don’t use it. But equally it needs to be
honest with itself and with its people, to prepare a political strategy to go
alongside it when we face lethal and dangerous group like Al-Shabaab.
J.
Powell in his book Talking to Terrorists
and How to end armed Conflicts states in his opening chapter one with the
quote of J.F Kennedy that we feel should be able to catapult us to a new
understanding of issues of terrorism when he says, “Let us never negotiate out
of fear, but let’s never fear to negotiate”[8]
[1] A. BONGIOVANNI., Fondamentalismi,
Parale delle Fedi, Editrice Missionaria Italia, Bologna 2010, 11
[2] M. MARTY., “Fundamentals
of Fundamentalism” in L. Kaplan. Fundamentalism in Comparative Perspective,
University of Massachusetts Press 1992, 17-18
[3] W.
SHEPARD., Fundamentalism Christian and
Islamic, Religion Vol 17, October 1987, 358
[4] J. POWELL., Talking to terrorists, how to end armed
conflicts, Vintage, Penguin Random House UK 2014
[5]Ibid., 9
[6] Wikipedia
“Popular Resistance Movement in the Land of the Two” in The Free Dictionary by
Farlex, Al-Shabaab (Militant group)- Translated as Youth or “The
youngsters” is Jihadists terrorist group based in East Africa. In 2012, it
pledged allegiance to the militant Islamist organization Al-Qaeda.Retrieved on
25/11/2017
[7] F.N.
MUVUMBI., The journey into Islam: an attempt
to awaken christians in Africa, Nairobi, The Catholic University of East
Africa Publication, 2006, 1
