Combat Terrorism and War Mongers to Avert a Refugee Crisis

Opinion

By Jeremiah WAKAYA | @WakayaKE

The upsurge in the number of people fleeing war is with no doubt a testimony of an increasingly volatile world. From terrorism to ethnic clashes, the world has continued to watch as thousands of people flee from war. These great injustices have continued to occur despite the fact that bodies such as the United Nations – whose existence is primarily to ensure a peaceful world, continue to operate with albeit with great difficulty.

Such difficulties are evident in that fact that different UN organs established in 1945 are seen as toothless dogs that have often watch helplessly when counties and regions suffer from terrorism and ethnic chaos. What for instance is the use of a Security Council that has done little if anything at all to combat or support countries fighting terrorism? More and more territory has been left at the hands of blood-thirsty terrorists who have turned against fellow citizens, displacing and killing hundreds of thousands of people. These groups have also imposed dictatorial laws that infringe of human rights and fundamental freedoms.

Of greater concern though is the somewhat success story of the UNHCR, The UN refugee body that has taken pride in alleviating pain for thousands of refugees in host nations. From provision of water to shelter, UNHRC has done but so much to support and help refuges. But for how long will innocent civilians continue to be refugees? My answer to this question is, “just temporarily.”

I hold the opinion that ultimately, the global community must act decisively to stem out terrorism and secure territories under the control of criminals and the so called jihad groups. By so doing we will help rebuild counties and provide an opportunities for refugees to go back to their countries of origin. Failure to do so only creates an opportunity for terror groups to turn territories they have seized into terror breeding grounds which ultimately have proven to have ripple effects on refugee host countries.

Take Kenya for instance; after opening its borders to hundreds of thousands of Somali’s fleeing war, the country has 25 years down the line been faced with numerous threats to what appears to be an enhanced Al-Shabaab. You will agree with me that Al-Shabaab continued to gain more ground in Somalia until the Kenyan military and later on AMISOM forces intervened.

This war has however received little support from the international community even as countries like Kenya continue to dig deep in its pockets to fund and sustain operation in Somalia since the beginning of Operation Linda Nchi on 16 October 2011.

The United Nations Secretary General Ban ki Moon during the recently concluded World Humanitarian Summit in Turkey admitted to the fact that “humanitarian action has been unprecedentedly strained” even as “political will” among nations continues to decline. Recently the European Union signed a deal with Turkey in efforts to deter an influx of refugees in its territory in exchange for financial support and political gain which would see Turkeys’ application for EU membership accelerated.

Truth be told, the welfare of citizens of any nation is the primary duty of any government. If today the Kenyan government feels refugee camps are a threat to the security of the nation then the world must not condemn the government. We should instead work to ensure Somalia is stable and safer for refugees to be repatriated in the most humanly manner possible.

One wonders when the government of Somalia objects to the repatriation of refugees knowing very well that Kenyan troops have worked tirelessly and paid dearly to pacify a great deal of the country’s territory. Somali official should instead work towards ensuring that those going back to Somalia are provided with land and security. In any case, the very government has continued to operate with help of foreign troops. The focus should now be on building capacity of Somalia security forces in anticipation of the exit of foreign troops which its parliamentarians have so shamelessly condemned in the past including recent threats to expel Kenyan troops.

The UN Security Council must therefore rise to the occasion and provide actionable measures that will see territory seized by terrorists across nations of the earth regained. Failure to do this will only see more and more territory fall into the hands of terror groups.

 

 

A Blanket Condemnation of UoN Students by Potential Employers is Unwarranted

Opinion

By Jeremiah WAKAYA | @WakayaKE

The recent events that led to destruction of equipment belonging to MoSound Events at the University of Nairobi’s Chancellor’s Court are without a doubt regrettable and shameful. One would expect that demonstrations such as the one which led to destruction of MoSound equipment would be conducted in a peaceful manner, particularly when those engaging in such demonstrations are students from an institution of higher learning talk less of the University of Nairobi which prides itself as an unrivaled leader as far as higher education is concerned.

But this was not the case with students of the University of Nairobi expressing their grievances over a ban on cooking in halls of residence, claiming they had been exposed to exploitative food prices at varsity-owned food joints. They further alleged that the food joints did not have enough supply of food hence students were limited to food rations regardless of whether such rations were enough for them. And so, for a section of these students, the only way their voice would be heard was through demonstrations.

It is however the manner in which these demonstrations were carried out that raised eyebrows and escalated public anger against UoN with some employers threatening to impose a sanction on UoN-schooled graduates.

These disheartening remarks reminded me of my recent holiday at the coast following the indefinite closure of the university, where I was met with the hard question, “So why do you people riot?” This was the question posed to me by my mothers’ colleague who seemed to have had enough of these unpopular demonstrations by students from my university. Lucky for me though, this lady wasn’t so serious as I would later find out she was only trying to start a conversation with a colleagues’ son she had met for the first time. Lucky me!

We must however ask ourselves why it is that demonstrations by students at the University of Nairobi have increasingly become disruptive and synonymous with violence. One thing is certain and that is such demonstrations have a lot in common with how we demonstrate as a nation. You will agree with me that other public protests have equally seen properties belonging to innocent citizens destroyed.

While it may be true that the said MoSound equipment were vandalized following protests by a section of students, it is also a fact that not all students participated in the demos. Punishing all students is therefore unjustified and an action that will serve to destroy the lives of innocent peace loving Kenyans who are caught up in this growing public anger against an institution they find themselves in.

Any action against UoN students must therefore be targeted to those found culpable of the destruction suffered by MoSound. I would for instance support a ban on student leaders who have failed on several occasions to provide leadership and instead castigated and overseen massive destruction of properties to safeguard their personal interests. I would and will support sanctions on the university managers who despite failing to ensure that hooliganism is stamped out of our institution of higher learning, seamlessly secure appointments in key government parastatals upon retirement. These are the folks that head institutions that ought to ensure a smooth day-to-day running of operations in institutions they head whether as administrators or as student leaders; both of them and I mean both of them have questions to answer to the public.

Yes, there are people who must take responsibility for injustices committed in the name of University of Nairobi students but certainly not all of us.